The Basketball Which Kuroko Plays
by Mythia-san
Summary: If you squint, Yukishiro has never been playing basketball. She's been playing "basketball." Which means that, accidentally, unconsciously, innocently, she's at it with everyone's sorry hearts. [OC/All] (canon!) [DROPPED]
1. Boku wa Yukishiro

**Original A/N: SLAP ME PLEASE. I don't know how I'll manage to write this, as it's been a while since I've watched/read KnB, but I just had to for some reason. Had no. i'mslippingawayit'stoolateinthemorning.  
**

**New A/N: Ahem. Amen. This is the updated version, with better writing more closely to my style. I don't often write in first person, but I had to in this case because I don't want everyone's perspective for the story... and Mitsu is cute.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

00 : I Am Yukishiro : _Boku wa Yukishiro_

Every day is a new day.

Each day I live is another day I learn something about the world I live in.

At night, I dream. And by morning, I see the light.

My name is... Yukishiro Mitsu!

When I was young, I lived in America. It was honestly frustrating moving there because of how people there couldn't say my name right with their carefree accent (which I hated), or how difficult it was to pick up the language. Plus, since moving to America, I was always the "transfer student who you need to say 'ching-chong' to," despite my not-so-Asian appearance. It reminded me of one time where I had a Spanish transfer student in class, and everyone tried speaking broken Spanish to her, except somehow it didn't seem as weird as with me. Maybe it's because they don't even know the difference between Japanese and Chinese.

Sob!

But there, I must admit... I met these two boys that taught me basketball.

Before that, I would watch them play on our elementary court. One of them, being like me, wasn't very good at his English quite yet (though he was still better than me at it). The one that was way better than the both of us taught him how to play first, and I would watch as he got better and better. His skin got tanner, his eyes became more passionate, and I wished that I could make the expressions the redhead made. But that was fine, as I would often make the same proud face as the other boy at his progress.

I didn't _dare_ say a word to them. I was too amazed at how they played that I didn't want to interrupt. I was a girl, after all, too scared to speak to boys (especially those doing a sport by themselves, of course it'd be awkward and embarrassing to do so).

One day, I saw the two on the sidewalk. The boy with his left eye hidden by his dark hair was giving the red-haired boy a ring, and they bought a chain to become "brothers." I really liked seeing that. It was like there was his bond they stepped into that was closer and better, something I was afraid I'd never have.

Thankfully, I didn't.

I was watching them, hiding behind a tree. Somehow, the older boy spotted me, and looked at me. I mean he _looked_ at me. It was hard to look away. I was frozen for a minute, not knowing what to say or do, as I just kept idiotically staring instead of pretending to be occupied with something else. Well, I didn't have a phone then, so I couldn't pretend to swipe on that— there wasn't anything interesting about my shoes, or the tree beside me—

So being stupid as I was, I walked towards them.

"Ha—hi!" I twitched a smile, stiffly bowing before them.

The redhead blinked. "_What are you doing?_" he asked in English.

"Oh, um," I quickly stood up unnaturally straight, "Sorry." I was being silly speaking in Japanese the entire time, knowing that they would understand.

"_Do you speak Japanese?_" the older boy asked, in English as well. He smiled a little. "_You look... familiar._"

"_I, um, watched all of your games!_" I meekly replied in English, not to get any looks from other people around. "_Err, your basketball games! You_— _you play that, right?_" I looked down again and tried to swallow, my throat feeling tight. _What am I doing! __I'm so stupid, I'm so stupid,_ I repeated in my head.

That was not how you should talk to two boys for the first time.

But look. I was like, eight, nine years old? I didn't know?

"That makes sense," the older boy said, speaking in Japanese. He stood in front of me, and smiled. "I'm Himuro Tatsuya. Nice to meet you, um—?"

I flinched. "Ah, it's Yukishiro Mitsu!" I burst, quickly realizing the volume of my words and slapping my hands over my mouth. I was very nervous at that age, and couldn't speak to kids my age or older at the time, with most of them being American. I wasn't confident with my English then. Still not to this day dang it.

Himuro and I shook hands. I hope he didn't notice my palms beginning to sweat in anxiety. "What a unique surname you have there, Yukishiro-san." He turned to the redhead and said, "This is Kagami Taiga. Taiga, this is—"

"Yukishiro Mitsu. I heard," he interrupted, causing me to shake a little. He looked so intimidating, but when I look at it now, he was actually kind of shy then. He wasn't, let's just say, the best with girls most of the time.

"Shiro-san has been watching our games with our friends," Himuro continued. He turned to me and asked, "You must know how we play, huh?"

My lips parted. It seemed a bit hard to breathe, with him calling me by 'Shiro.' After all, a senpai like Himuro-kun made words somehow difficult to come out, with the way he looked so princely and acted like a young gentleman. I could see him with a crown and uniform, walking into a castle. He could practically take my hand and kiss it, though at the time I thought that'd be gross and weird. Haha!

The silence was a bit awkward because of me spacing out (_stupid, stupid_), so I had to say something or else I'd die. _What did he ask again?_ I wondered. _Something like... just make up an answer. Is it a yes or no question?_ I spaced out pretty hard, but they were patient enough.

"Well, y-yes," I finally squeaked.

"Do you know how to play basketball, Shiro-san?" asked Himuro.

I gulped. "Well, not _really_..."

_I have never touched a basketball in my life._

I could only imagine what facial expression I must've put on then. A deer-in-the-headlights face? An I'm-a-complete-liar face? A doom face? I just remembered that I could only think of one thing:

_Please, please, please don't ask me to play with you!_

"Is that a yes?" Kagami spoke aloud, cocking a brow. He was suddenly interested. I definitely had the doom face.

"W-Well, no. I can't play like you guys," I stammered, already tripping on my words and trying to use my hands to explain. "I just, I have this way, and— _oh forget it_," my hands were thrown down to my sides, "I _can't_ play with you two! I-I'll just suck, you know? Haha?"

That laugh made me cry inside.

"I'm sure you're great at basketball," Himuro assured with a calm smile. Just how patient was he? I wouldn't know, even if I spent years with him. How do I know that? It's not hard to figure out from here.

Before I knew it, even though it was around five in the evening, we went onto the basketball courts near the school we all went to (I told them on the way that I went to their school too, which made them recognize me even more), where I'd watch them play all the time. Kagami had a ball.

On that day, I touched a _basketball._

Don't make that face at me! I seriously had no interest in sports until I watched them play! I didn't know what I was missing out on, honestly.

Feeling the roughness and seeing the black lines on the orange, I suddenly felt pulled to something at that moment. I didn't know what, but I felt... adrenaline. Well, it wasn't like anything I had experienced in my entire life. Even though I hadn't lived for that long.

"How about you shoot the ball instead of staring at it?" Kagami asked me, jolting me from the feeling. It wasn't completely gone though—in fact, it shrunk due to reality, and built up inside.

I smiled timidly. "I-I'll try," I said. It wasn't like I could escape from this. Well, I could've, but I didn't do that, so yes— I know I was weird. And sadly enough, I still _am_.

So I tried mimicking something Himuro-kun would do. I bent my knees, not too much, raised the ball above my head, and hesitated. After a heavy short breath, I shot.

I missed.

_No..._

Kagami looked at me all weird, back and forth from the hoop to me. I blushed and hid my face.

"Have you _really_ played before?"

"Um!" I barely let out. "I— not against anybody, no! Or in a long time either." I felt horrible lying ridiculously. I looked like an idiot, and it was so obvious too that I was cringing and crying waterfalls inside.

Himuro just chuckled. He _clearly _didn't get it.

"Maybe you're rusty," he said to me. "You're probably amazing if you get the feel."

_Maybe I'm rusty? Maybe you need to get your brain checked, because you must be dumber than me to not see that I_—_! No! Bad thoughts, go away!_

Oh I had the feel. It was just stuck inside, going haywire, but that was probably mixed with my strong urges to just make a run for it. _Stupid, stupid_, I kept repeating in my head again, not sure what to do at that moment.

Kagami ran to get the ball, and threw it at me. For the accomplishment of the day in which I bothered to cheer for inside, I actually caught it! Hooray little me!

I started to calm down my pounding heart, because I wanted to _not_ look like a senseless little liar if they're going to keep going with it. Trying a different position to get comfortable, I found myself twisting my left ankle a bit more, using my left hand for more boost onto the ball. It went farther, but way off to the right of the hoop, hitting the green wire fence.

I made a doom face.

_I'm so, so, so stu_— You get it.

"I'm so sorry! I'll get that," I embarrassedly apologized, only for Kagami to get it again, making me look slow. _Stop making me look so bad at this, Kagami-kun! Please don't make that face, sob!_ I cried inwardly.

"You haven't played before," Kagami bluntly said. "Your form isn't right."

I couldn't even bother to be ashamed for lying. I just managed a, "I'm sorry—"

"Stop apologizing! You don't need to." Kagami gave me the ball and pushed his hand on my back to the court.

When I was about to position myself again, he pushed my small shoulders down. "Don't put your shoulders up to your ears, dummy," he told me. "Also, you're not bending your knees enough. Your left ankle is twisting to the side a bit too much."

I nodded, my heart beating fast and blood rushing to my ears as I felt his hands leave me. They were boy hands, small but bigger than mine, tanner than mine, more calloused and used than my delicate fingers and unblemished skin. I was straining to hear. The ball was in my hands, my nails short enough not to get caught in the small bumps and ridges, my hands sweaty enough to grasp it and control it. I closed my eyes, trying to block out my pesky thoughts to focus on my breathing.

So, when I aimed and threw— guess!

I actually hit the headboard! Only for the ball to hit the right side of the hoop and fall out of it.

_Oh! Yay_— _sigh._

Himuro-kun ran to get the ball, giving it to me. "You're drastically improving, Shiro-san!" he assured me quickly when I looked like I was really going to cry (_Why so stupid?)_. "Don't give up now."

Feeling like poop, I raised my head and couldn't help but ask, "Why bother with me? I lied to you. I can't play, I'm really dumb, I don't belong here in America, and it's because my dad has to work here and my mom would like it if I picked up some English like a smart Japanese little girl—"

"Whoa, life story," Kagami remarked, earning a jab from Himuro.

"Hey, Shiro-san! You're _not_ dumb, first off!" He grabbed my shoulders. "Look at me."

I covered my entire face, hiding in my white bangs. At the time, my hair was to my shoulders, wavy and white, barely able to be tied up. Somehow, Himuro knew how to tie hair, and he noticed my wrists as I tried to wipe the baby tears away. He gently took my hands and pulled out the band on my wrist, walking behind me and threading his fingers tenderly into my hair.

"Wh— what are you doing?" I hiccuped.

"Oh, why are you crying now?" Himuro asked in surprise, his fingers pausing before gathering as much of my hair as possible.

"I don't know..." I felt my bangs being pulled back, some falling back into place for being too short. The hair at the sides of my ears refused to be tied either, and tickled my face as a random draft blew.

Kagami awkwardly stood before me at a distance, pacing slightly, staring at his feet, and looking guilty. I bit my lip, being the one who felt guilty. But then, his head flew up and his fiery eyes shot at my direction, startling me.

"Ah—" I tried to step back, feeling Himuro's hands leave my hair, but I stumbled forward instead. Feeling my hair, I was surprised to feel a pigtail in the back.

"So cute," I heard Himuro muse behind me, but I ignored that for a second. That was smart, otherwise I would've been a hot tomato mess after being flattered by a boy for the first time.

"Yukishiro Mitsu, was it?" Kagami questioned, pointing at me. I felt trapped for some reason, as I stiffened.

"Y-Yes! Wait?"

He practically stomped towards me (at least, that's what it looked like to me at the time), almost scrutinizing me when he eyed me critically. I felt so exposed and nervous. Did my hair look strange to him?

"Do you think," he began, "that you can just give up and run away, after trying only three times? Don't give me that crap! Try again! You were pretty close at that last shot, which was better than my third shot! Which I don't really remember but who cares!"

I blinked, tears dried.

_"We won't let you leave until you either get one in or call the cops!_"

I don't know what I was thinking at that moment. Maybe I wasn't thinking at all, which would explain why I uncharacteristically laughed at him. Perhaps it was his expression, or the way he said those words, or both. But I still laughed, earned two astonished looks, and I think I said this:

"I won't call the cops."

I know. I was so cool!

By the sixth try, I got the ball in the basketball hoop. After that, it was back and forth, getting it in and failing.

Overall, I had fun with the two. The next day, I found them playing after school and they spotted me again. It was another round of learning basketball for me then.

* * *

In the middle of my third grade school year, I was moved to a different class, with Kagami-kun in it. After school, we'd play basketball and do our homework at each other's houses (focusing on our English most). I once saw him cook with his dad, and he was a natural! It made me smile whenever I met up with him—Himuro-kun too.

Himuro-kun, Kagami-kun and I familiarized with each other and became great friends for what seemed like forever. Basketball connected us together, and that's why I played every day with them, to thank it. Besides that, it was fun, entertaining, and gave me a chance to see them smile radiantly each day. They were like bright flames, lighting each other up, and lifting their abilities higher and higher. And they brought me up with them to the wondrous burning feeling.

Of course, the first few times made my muscles ache!

It was cool, especially when I was close with them enough to call them "Tai-kun" and "Tatsu-kun." Cheesy, I know, but they called me "Mit-san" and "Tsu." I occasionally get the "Oven Mitt" nickname, but that was better than calling me a Japanese character.

If you thought that was lame, well, this isn't. Kagami told us that he knew this WNBA player, and after a lot of convincing, we got that woman to teach us basketball! He didn't tell us that she was retired though. But she was still young, and kicked... butt! Her name was Alexandra Garcia. We stubborn kids annoyed her though. But later on, she liked us and loved teaching us, though— how to explain.

She didn't hesitate to kiss me because she was a crazy American. But that was _not_ normal... I thought? Well, from the "Garcia," she was probably even a bit Spanish in a way, but she certainly didn't look it, with her blonde hair and blue eyes. Spanish people were crazy. Okay. I see where this is going, and I'll let myself out.

I was relieved that she could speak Japanese though! It wasn't too fluent, but it was better than many people (because she nailed the Japanese accent).

* * *

When we went out for ice cream one time, I remember Himuro held my hand and slipped a ring on one of my fingers. Kagami dropped a chain on my head. "Happy birthday," was what he told me with a grin.

I laughed, "It's not my birthday though."

"Surprise, it is," he laughed back.

I took the chain off my head because it was starting to fall, and examined it. It looked exactly like the one they wore. The ring was a little different, but it was so big on my finger. My fingers were slender compared to the boys', but they probably didn't want to make it too small. Or maybe they wanted me to grow into it when I got older.

Whichever the case, I pulled off the ring from my finger and slid it on the chain, with Himuro snapping it on behind my neck. My hair grew to my chest, so I had to pull it to the side. "Now we're all like siblings, right?" he asked.

Kagami shrugged. "Tsu is like a little sister to me," he said. "By the way, you're getting better at your basketball Tsu."

"Really? Thanks!"

"You're definitely getting better," Himuro agreed, patting my head.

I thought that the happiness would just get better and better in America.

* * *

Himuro had to go to middle school, and life just got a teensy bit majorly less exciting for Kagami-kun and I. We still played without Himuro, and didn't see him for the entire fifth grade too. It was like a rainbow without all of the colors, or a half-painted picture. It wasn't complete.

But Kagami just kept going. He wasn't the kind to be hung up on something he knew shouldn't be thought of much. I felt bad though.

* * *

As fate would have it, when I least expected it, my parents told me some "good" news. I was going back to Japan when I would turn twelve.

I couldn't tell Kagami. It was just something that I couldn't do. I'd feel too bad, as I knew he was tough at heart but not that tough. It was a gut feeling, a belief born out of catching glimpses of a downcast and the occasional out-of-the-blue miff, but I came to think that Kagami was hurting more than me with Himuro slowly becoming more distant, and me becoming less happy as well from it.

The skies suddenly seemed gray.

I was only eleven at the time, but the feelings weren't any less real, any less painful. I remember thinking way too much about how to tell Kagami, being the overthinking fur-ball I was, to the point where I didn't eat as much or sleep with many good dreams. It felt like I'd been plagued.

When we entered our first year of middle school, the question would cross my mind each day. When I said in my mind I'd tell him, my mouth would stay shut.

But, it wasn't like I lost touch with Himuro. We still found time to talk over the phone, meet at most twice a month, and catch up. But the strong bond we had, that sibling-like bond, was slipping away.

This was supposed to be a secret I'd hold from you until later, but at one point we liked each other. But I think about it now and it's really ridiculous... middle school love never goes well. We knew that. That's why we didn't do anything to further our friendship.

But actually, it was also because Himuro told me that he sensed Kagami liked me. I didn't believe it then, but when I look back at it now, it doesn't seem so farfetched.

I still played with Kagami, and we'd go to the street court to practice several times a week. Then, I realized something for a moment— he was getting stronger. He surpassed Himuro. Speaking of him, I finally saw him again in his second year, with his own street ball team.

Kagami and I were taken by surprise when this boy asked him to play against them with his own team. Because we didn't know Himuro was there yet, Kagami accepted, since the boy mentioned that they were a great team. I was hardly surprised, since Kagami liked to be challenged and practice with teams (even though he had a tendency to be dominant offense, as if he thought he could beat his opposing team solo).

Kagami's team won against Himuro's that day. He won for the first time against him. Himuro, being a good sport, was congratulating him.

That was all I saw last of them and their basketball games, before my parents told me that I was leaving a week after that instead of when school was over. The shock was evident in my tear stains on my bed that night. I knew it was then or never would I break the news to the two best friends I made over the adventure in America that I never thought I'd enjoy, but still. It felt too overwhelming, something I couldn't do, especially to Kagami. I'd spent so much time with him, only to seem like it'd eventually mean nothing.

* * *

Over the phone, I broke the news to Himuro. He asked me why I hadn't mentioned anything sooner, since I confessed to him that I'd known for a while. But he understood as soon as he asked, and tried to comfort me with a promise.

"We'll see each other again," he had said. I let myself cry after hearing that. "And when we do, let's go get ice cream and talk, like we usually do. I honestly miss the sakura and green tea-flavored soft-serves that they'd sell in those towering layers."

His voice was soft, calm, and mature. I just sniffed and let out ugly sobs, not wanting to leave him and regretting not spending enough time with him. "S-So," I barely let out, faking a laugh, "you're coming to Japan?"

"I'm coming wherever you are, Mit-san! I swear to it," he promised. Swore on it. "If we're much older by then, maybe in high school or college, I want be there to protect you and never let you cry over these hard decisions again."

"You... you don't mean that... it's impossible, Tatsu-san."

"It's not," he insisted.

"It is," I insisted back.

Himuro paused. I thought he hung up for a second, and was about to let out a cry, when he abruptly asked, "Did you tell Taiga?"

The words were stuck in my throat, but that was enough for an answer to him. He sighed, "Mit-san."

"I don't— I _can't_—"

"Mit-san."

"Tatsuya! I— do you realize how hard this is for me?" I wailed, running a shaky hand through my bangs. "Do you realize how hard it'd be for Tai-kun to get over it? He never got over you being distant, even though he says he has, but I know him! He's strong, but not emotionally, and—"

"Mit-san."

I fell silent, having heard my name three times by such a calming voice. I could feel his smile, his patient and reassuring smile... but it was also pained.

"Taiga is the stubbornest, more headstrong person we both know. When he gets older, he'll mature and understand your side of things if he can't now. The two of you won't lose touch just from this. You guys have spent some close years with each other, am I wrong?"

I sniffed and nodded. Even though Himuro couldn't see him, it seemed like he acknowledged my nod.

"The news is shaking me too, Mit-san," he told me. "But I'll be okay. I promise, we'll see each other again. I can't let go of someone as unique and charming as Yukishiro Mitsu, my little white flower."

My face felt hot in embarrassment. "Th— that's cheesy, Tatsu-san..."

He chuckled slightly. "Smile for me, okay?" he whispered. It melted my heart. At least, I knew that telling Himuro wasn't regretful in the slightest.

* * *

As I waited for my flight, my mother handed me her phone, saying that it was from Kagami Taiga.

"_Why didn't you tell me?_ Tatsuya had to. You told _him_, but why didn't you tell _me?_"

I felt his emotions laid out very clearly. He was heartbroken at this, and my very being shook at this. I'd completely forgotten to tell him, after telling Himuro. It slipped past my mind, and right then it came to haunt me.

My throat felt constricted. I couldn't breathe. So I managed to reply to him quietly, as if any louder I'd break, "Because I didn't know how."

"What do you _mean?_" he demanded.

"I— Tai-kun, I'm so sorry, but I have to go to my flight now—"

"You can't just _leave_ this conversation Tsu! You can't just leave us, you— you can't just leave _me_! I hate you!" He was senselessly angry and confused, as if he didn't know what to do or say properly at the moment. I felt his pain for him, dare I say just as intensely as he did. I was trembling. Not in fear, but I just felt so bad for Kagami. It wasn't like I was trying to pity him, because Kagami didn't like to be pitied. I just couldn't help it.

Taking deep breaths, I sniffed. I didn't realize it at first, but I was crying. My sight blurred, the memories of my time in America like bullets to my chest, barely allowing me to take any air in. "Tai-kun, I'm so sorry," I wept. "You know I am. I didn't ask for it to be like this..."

He kept repeating that he hated me, and I didn't take it to heart because I knew him well enough to remind myself he didn't mean it. But it still hurt.

My breathing was ragged, and my mind was spinning, the tears still falling down my cheeks. My mother, alarmed, nearly took the phone away but I held onto it tightly. I felt like that would be my last conversation with him, at least, for a very long time. Kagami would be too hurt to speak to me for a while, I knew.

"_I love you and Tatsuya. I won't forget you,_" I said in English. Then in Japanese, I continued, "We'll see each other again, and play basketball first thing. Okay...?"

Kagami was quiet. After a moment's paise, he answered achingly, "That's impossible—"

"No, Tai-kun, don't say that! Please. We _will_ see each other again. I'll visit you, or you visit me, and we'll continue to study English, go out for ice cream, and— and— listen." I whispered something, something only he could hear if the receiver's connection and quality allowed it, and he said nothing.

Before he could speak, I hung up, boarding my flight to Japan.

* * *

**Originally Written On: December 3, 2014**

**Rewritten On: October 5, 2016**


	2. Tip Off: Unseen!

**Old A/N****: I don't know much about basketball (in fact, most of my knowledge of it derives from KnB sigh), but I've tried my best to write this fanfic nonetheless. I am a pioneer. A brave pioneer with a soul that will *bleep* and *haha***

**Ne****w**** A/N: Dear past self - same. But fear not, for I still have hope in reviving this fanfic and not disappointing the fans of this fic and myself for being a not-beach bum. Lol. Let's have at it.**

* * *

0.5 : Teikou Junior High : _Tip Off Unseen!_

I didn't like Japan.

I was used to America.

I had great friends there, and not a bad home or living, or a bad school, you know?

And now, I had to start a new life at a new school, in a different country, with unfamiliar faces and _no_ _friends, sob._

Perhaps the only good thing about moving back to Japan was that I could freely speak Japanese without getting foreigner looks. But what was the good thing in that, when I could be playing in the court, eating ice cream after with my "brothers" and Alex-san? I couldn't call Kagami or Himuro because I didn't have the cross-country calling ability on my outdated phone. And my parents only bought a phone for me to have for safety purposes.

Sometimes, I regretted meeting them and getting to know them. I had to suffer for it. I couldn't even email them. Well, I did, but Himuro was always busy and replied weeks later, and Kagami never replied back.

I wouldn't feel bad going back to Japan if I didn't meet them. I'd be actually happy, feeling free from the English and the Americans picking on my silvery white hair and name. Plus, Kagami wouldn't be so mad at me if I didn't meet them. But I met them— and I became best friends with them, sharing good times, doing childhood and whatnot... only to stab them in the back and leave some years later.

It felt terrible each day I lived in Japan from then on. The kids saw me as a quiet, shy, yet reserved person, and most of them pretty much avoided me at my school. Teikou didn't seem interesting at all to me.

Any and every small conversation I'd get revolved around either English homework, my hair, or my name. They'd ask me the stupidest things about them, and nothing that could act like friendship stepping stones. It felt pathetic that I had no friends.

"Yukishiro, _ha._ You'd think that she'd have a more appropriate and prettier name like Shirayuki."

"Or Yukishira."

"Guys, that's her family name. Can't change that... but Mitsu though..."

"_Right_? Doesn't suit her at all."

"Maybe they thought she'd be a leader when she grew up. Guess they thought wrong."

"She's so shy, I can't get to her! God, seriously!"

Eventually, some students got in trouble for picking on the new girl, which was me. Frankly, I didn't mind them picking on me. I was no pushover, but it became worse after the teachers intervened. It felt like I was put more on the spot, and it was very uncomfortable being forced into the spotlight.

One day, a girl decided that I was worth the conversation, and roped me with three other girls talking about— what do you know?— _basketball_.

"Our basketball club is the number one!" one girl squealed. "And the boys there are smoking hot too."

"_Aren't they though?_" second girl agreed. I think she was hyperventilating. "And their names all are so appropriate!"

"What?" I quietly uttered. No one heard me of course.

"_Right?_" The girl who roped me in breathed in awe. "_Aka_shi Seijurou, _Midori_ma Shinatou, _Ao_mine Daiki, _Murasaki_bara Atsushi, and— you know."

She nudged her friends, who all looked like they were having a series of spasms, seizures, and heart attacks. Eh. I wasn't sure if I could handle any more of these die-hard romantics.

Also... were their names _colors_? Like... _mine_? Did that mean that their hair was—

"You know who we're talking about, right Yukishiro-san?" one of the girls asked me. I blinked and didn't even give it a second thought.

"Um. No?"

All four of those girls gasped loudly, attracting attention. I was suddenly being pinned again, and the four girls backed away from me like I was disgusting to be around. It's pitiful, I know, and maybe I should've just lied to them to appease them, but maybe this was a good thing. I could leave sooner.

Except they just had to gush about _Ki_se Ryouta to me. They made sure that I would _never_, _ever_ forget about him.

* * *

Later that day, I looked up about Teikou in the computer room. Yeah, I know, my own school.

They were known well for their basketball team, and how invincible they were. Words "unbeatable," "miracle," and all sorts of competitions came up, and how they won every single game this year. _So they're that good?_ I wondered, my brow twitching in thought.

Being Yukishiro Mitsu, basketball semi-enthusiast (I had a love-hate relationship with it) and shy but curious cat, I had to see them.

I tried finding my way to the gym, and got lost in the large school. It was very different from the American schools I got used to. There were chalkboards and such to keep things traditional, but I couldn't help but feel like they could modernize a few things. Whiteboards were way more helpful, and easier to clean. Chalk was dusty and would go everywhere, and I had a habit of sneezing excessively every time it was my turn to clean the classroom after school.

With my irked thoughts, of course I bumped into someone.

I knew the person was tall from the height difference, so I assumed that he was a player. I was lucky to be correct, since I couldn't afford to be more exhausted from embarrassment and squealing girls today. "Oh God, I'm so sorry," I managed, hand on mouth.

He laughed on the spot, a bit more than what was expected. "You're so sweet! You're fine!" he exclaimed, leaning down to pat my head like I was some puppy to him. When he looked into my eyes, he blinked. I blinked.

His eyes and hair were a beautiful golden yellow hue. _He can't be_, I thought, immediately flustered.

"What a rare white-haired young lady," he complimented with a warm smile.

He didn't say anything more about my hair, which was very relieving, or else I'd be stuck in this stupid hall for the rest of the day.

"But you look lost. Need any help?"

I cleared my thoughts with a shake of my head. Since he asked, I might as well take advantage, even though my words weren't as graceful as my thoughts. "Do you, um, know where the gym is? I'd like to visit the basketball team for er, something."

He stood up straight, laughed again, and placed a large hand on his hip like a posing model. "You're going the opposite way then," he told me, his cat-like eyes gleaming.

"Ah!" I stupidly squeaked. I covered my mouth. "Are you _serious?_ Oh, and sorry for that random sound, I don't know where that came from..."

"Why are you apologizing again? Did you do me any harm?" he chuckled. Then he leaned forward again, "This is the part where you say no."

"Oh." Curse me! "No?"

"Something the matter, miss?"

I looked at him with wide, grey eyes. "Are you— or rather, do you happen to be... what was the name... Kise Ryou—"

"That's me!" he interrupted with a wide grin, as if proud and flattered simultaneously. He was kind of getting on my nerves all of a sudden. I just wanted to visit the basketball club.

"Okay, Kise-san. Since you're part of the club as I've been, um, told... can you show me where it is?"

"Alright, but aren't you a student here? Shouldn't you already know this stuff?"

I was new, first off, and secondly, I easily got lost in any place I found myself in. Old habits died hard. But all I could bring myself to say was, "Well, I-I don't."

Apparently, he thought that was cute.

Kise proceeded to tell me that he was going to use me as an excuse for being late to practice. I laughed nervously and sucked a breath. Maybe his handsome vibes were getting to me, because I was acting off around him the whole time. Thankfully, he wouldn't know that, since he just met me.

He started to make small talk with me, such as who I reminded him of. It was this underrated player in his team who was small, maybe three or so inches taller than me, who was a great asset to the team. I tried to picture him, but I only imagined a black blob dubbed "Kurokocchi." It made me wonder if his hair was black, but that'd be just like most other people.

... How could green, or purple, or even blond (I mean, Kise was full Japanese, right?) be natural colors?

Haha. I forgot about myself. Never mind.

He then asked about myself. I decided to give in a little, telling him that I liked basketball in the past, back when I lived in America. He was amazed that I was an exchange student, and asked me a bit about my experiences. I told him that it was difficult, but not impossible to learn the language and fit in, and I met some Japanese friends there anyways. I also let him know that we were trained by a retired WNBA player. Kise's eyes just sparkled in astonishment.

I never knew that someone could be so interested in what I had to say, since I was friends with Kagami and Himuro. It made me wistful.

I guess he noticed, since he patted my head again. If we knew each other more after this, I hoped that this wouldn't be a habit of his.

(Sadly, I was wrong.)

Just when I thought he purposely made us go in circles around the school, he pronounced that "we were at our destination." It made me laugh out of the blue, startling both him and myself, but we just smiled it off.

Inside the gym, I heard the familiar sounds that I was not ready to take in. The basketball shorts and tees, the pungent smell that I was used to, and the balls dribbling, passing, and shot around. It was mesmerizing and terrifying at the same time.

"Gosh— um," I stammered, "maybe, just maybe... I should not have come—"

"What nonsense did I just hear?" Kise dramatically gasped, model hands on his model hips. It was getting increasingly difficult not to acknowledge his aesthetic figure.

Then, the room abruptly went silent. Perhaps it was the first time a girl like me came into the room during practice, or I wasn't allowed to visit during practice. I couldn't help but hide behind the closest thing around me, which happened to be Kise himself.

"Come on," he nudged, wearing an easygoing smile on his face. I was not encouraged enough. "Don't tell me I brought you all the way here to be like that! Come watch us and tell me what you think!"

"Huh?" I let out, my face blank, as I was dragged further inside by Mr. Pretty Boy. My heart was tangled with my lungs, my ears throbbing, as I felt like a hot mess. Eventually, the silent players reluctantly resumed, though it was clear that they had questions regarding my presence.

I looked around, and the first person who caught my eye was #4.

_Aka_, I thought, my eyes pinned to his red hair. _Akashi Seijurou?_

The captain had distinct red hair with long bangs that draped his forehead, and attentive, bloodshot eyes that could see through my soul. His eyes caught mine, giving me a disapproving glance. I was in such a frozen state, feeling like a deer in the headlights, that I couldn't look away.

Kise shook my arm, alerting me back to my senses, and gently sat me down on a bench where regulars would sit on. "You can watch really closely here," he told me with a wink. Then, he jogged to his captain, while I inwardly winced. Even I couldn't deny that he was beautiful, as much as I wanted to!

I glanced around, looking for any mops of hair with unusual color. I caught neat green hair and square-framed glasses on a certain boy, as I took my time to study him. He was wearing an armband, telling one of the people that it was his 'lucky item' of the day.

_Midori,_ I thought._ Midorima Shintarou_.

It wasn't long before I saw this really, _really_ tall purple-haired boy, who looked like the lazy type. Bless his height. Though, couldn't he even bother to cut his hair, since that's rather bothersome in the court? Or maybe he didn't care about his looks at all? He looked like the type—

As fate would have it, he stopped playing, and sat on the benchers where I was, _right beside me_. He reeked of sweat, but it didn't disgust me entirely. I grew up familiar with this smell.

His lazy eye looked down at me, as I tentatively looked up. I noticed our massive height difference, and it was like he was twice the size of me. He probably was.

Oh, and I also heard someone talking to another person saying how strange we were on the bench. I instantly reddened, while the purple-haired giant ignored them and commented, "You're tiny."

I nervously laughed, trying to ignore some stares. "Yeah. I know. Um, well— by the way— if you wanted to know! My name is Yukishiro Mitsu!"

Was it obvious that I was freaking out a little? He was the only one whose name I couldn't remember. It was long. That was the only thing I remembered from those basketball fangirls.

"Murasakibara Atsushi," he said to me. I breathed in, my internal freak-fest rejoicing.

"Thank you—" I slapped a hand to my mouth. _Did I just say that?_

He stared at me for what felt like ages, and then shrugged. "You're welcome."

I stifled a laugh, inwardly thankful for his passiveness. And this time, I really tried to keep it inside. "T-That was weird. I'm awkward. Let's forget that happened," I sputtered.

"Sure," was all he said.

"Hello then, Mura— Murasaki— huh?"

"Is it that hard to say?" he drawled, though he wasn't that interested if I answered. "I don't really care what you call me."

I said, "How about Murasaki-kun?" I laughed again at this. "Ah, that sounds girly, doesn't it?"

He just shrugged. He probably didn't care, but little did I know that that nickname would stick.

"Your hair is weird," he said suddenly, glancing over me. I followed his gaze and found new water bottles beside me, and the first thing I did from there was to hand him one. He probably was silently asking, as he chugged it down in a few gulps.

That wasn't the first time I had comments about my hair. Despite that, I self-consciously raked a pale hand through my white bangs. "Your hair is... also weird," my voice found itself saying.

"But it's pretty. Like vanilla ice cream."

For some reason, that made me feel fuzzy inside, like I won something. Maybe I made a friend? Was Kise my friend too, then?

"Thank you," I couldn't help but say, genuinely grateful. "Though purple is a pretty color too! Like, um, grape soda!"

Maybe I was imagining it, but I thought I saw the corner of his lips twitch up at this. For some strange reason unbeknownst to me, this natural conversation was the most comforting thing about my day.

Murasakibara was called back onto the court, and I was left alone on the benchers. Sighing, I continued to look around. There was a boy with dark blue hair who pummeled his opponents, and it was funny how I didn't notice him first. With his aggressiveness, his tan skin, and his clear enthusiasm, he'd probably be the main attraction.

He glanced at me, and our eyes met. He gave me a careless grin, and resumed playing.

_Ao,_ I thought._ Aomine Daiki._

My eyes wandered back to Midorima, who uncannily shot from the other side of the court. I blinked, grey eyes widening, as if my eyes were both blessed and cursed to witness that moment. "What just— what even!?" I squeaked, my voice octaves higher.

"This is _my_ team, Yukishiro Mitsu."

My head whipped to the voice's source, and there stood the feared Akashi Seijurou. He didn't bother to look at me, watching the court. "We are a proud team. We're prodigies, and I trained them to perfection."

"Perfection?" I repeated, looking at Kise. He perfectly copied Aomine's street-style play, just for fun. "Are you sure?"

The redhead twitched a small scowl. "You don't believe what I just said?"

"I mean, you— didn't you say _perfection_? You can't be perfect..."

"You've just witnessed perfection. You are seeing wonders and impossibilities before your eyes, and yet you don't accept to admit their impeccability?" he asked me. He was sincerely puzzled by my response. Maybe he never heard anything like it before, to which I should've given him a hearty laugh at.

"Well... I think there's no one in this universe that's perfect, even though they may seem like it. Everyone has a weakness, and basketball isn't counted out. That's what I believe. There's always room for improvements," I explained, surprised at my clear voice and hoping not to jinx it. "Even though your team leaves me speechless, I think one day, you'll understand that there are people who could beat your team."

"I highly doubt that. We have never been beaten, Yukishiro."

I shrugged. "I— I still don't think your team is purely perfect on all sides. Maybe your stamina isn't as good, because their abilities use up some energy? Maybe your special moves are limited? Maybe your secrets to your trump cards will be revealed soon?"

Akashi finally looked at me, with interest shining in his red eyes. "Do you know who I am?"

"Akashi-kun. Right?" With no response, I proceeded with, "Was what I said w-wrong?"

He averted his eyes, but I caught an unbelievable glimpse of amusement in it. "Your perspective merely defies everyone else's."

Was that his way of saying yes?

Kise jogged over to me seconds later. "Yukishiro-chan! What'd you think of our practice?"

I stood up, and smiled meekly. "It was nothing like I've ever seen, Kise-kun," I assured him.

"Haha!" He gave me thumbs up, and offered, "Do you want to play? Our practice is over now."

Akashi then really suddenly put his attention on me. The hairs on my body stood on end, I felt zapped and on the spot, and it was especially uncomfortable. We're talking about Akashi Seijurou's emperor eyes staring into my very being. There must've been something beyond my soul that he was looking into at this very moment.

"Oh, well— t-that's okay!" I managed to Kise, my hands quivering now. "Maybe next time—"

"I'd like to see your play, Yukishiro," Akashi said. He sounded like he was simply interested, but the undertones swelled like a demand. There was no doubt, he could rule this basketball court like a king, using the other players and I like puppets. Our sole purpose was to entertain him.

Defeated more easily than what I would've liked, I squeaked an, "Okay."

Kise passed me a ball, and I caught it with slight difficulty. He threw it with power I should've expected.

The ball, though— it felt like I should've played it first thing when I came here in Japan. I didn't though, because of how terrible I felt when I looked at it. Yet, it was in my hands, a little sweaty from the use, but I still felt over the black in the rough orange like the first time.

With my feet moving on its own, I stepped onto the court. Many eyes were on me, especially the Generation of Miracles. Exhaling a shaky breath, I habitually twisted my right ankle and threw with my left hand backing up the ball for some forward strength. It went in. I threw a two-pointer, and it went in without a hitch!

"Whoa, amazing Yukishiro-chan!" Kise said in glee. Murasakibara raised his brows, and Aomine smirked. Midorima gave me a strange expression I couldn't put to words. Did none of them ever witness a girl do this, or was it because I specifically did it?

I was told I looked frail and delicate, even sickly.

"It wasn't that good! It was just a two-pointer, nothing special," I laughed skittishly, as I moved to get the ball. My grip on it whitened my fingers.

"But your position was really weird," Kise started to explain. "It looked so strange! Do Americans play like that?"

My mouth parted, and a hand habitually shot up to run through my waves. "N-No. I had a habit of twisting my _left_ ankle, but I'm left-handed, so my friend Tai-kun helped me grow this habit of twisting my right ankle. It'll even out for me to shoot straighter and with more control."

"You're left-handed?" he exclaimed, then paused to think. "Midorimacchi, aren't you left-handed?"

"I appreciate your acknowledgement," Midorima said sarcastically, bandaging his left hand as he spoke. He proceeded to file his nails, and it was hard not to laugh at that. He cared so much about his hands... it was admirable.

"Hey! Yukisomething, was it?" I looked to my right at the voice, and it belonged to the tan-skinned, blue-haired ace. "Shoot a three-pointer," he ordered.

I may as well have been wrong about the puppet thing. At the moment, I was the _only_ puppet on the stage, with everyone around me having a turn to play with me.

Was I this stupid to play along with their sick games?

Apparently so. But! This was mostly because the adrenaline from scoring coursed through my veins and refused to just leave after that long-ago exhilaration.

Before I knew it, I stepped back a bit, positioned myself, and shot again. It barely went in, to my surprise, as, well— it actually went in. For someone so small and rusty to be able to do that in one try, I told myself that it had to be a fluke.

Kise didn't know that, though. No one did. The blonde praised me again, to which I fell bashfully modest.

"Shoot from the back of the court," Midorima promptly ordered, without warning. I flinched, and Kise wasn't prepared to shut up.

"What the hell, Midorimacchi!" he shouted, sounding whiny. "Why'd you ask her to do something as ridiculous as that?"

"I just want to know how far her capabilities take her," he said matter-of-factly, crossing his arms. "If she can do something as uncanny as that, then we've just witnessed a female basketball prodigy."

I shook my head rapidly, "No— no! I'm not— I never said— _I'm no prodigy!_"

Hearing my voice come out louder than expected, I covered my whole burning face with both hands. Peeking through the cracks, I saw Midorima's startled expression, as if he didn't expect that response at all. He probably never realized that girls were not to be messed with; girls like me tended to be far more sensitive than boys.

"Let's not push her into things like that," Kise dismissed, placing a firm hand on my shoulder. "Also, apologize to Yukishirocchi!"

He twitched his eye. "Pardon?"

I widened my eyes at the nickname (did I deserve that?), my hands leaving my face, "Kise-san, I'm fine, really—"

"Apologize to her, Midorimacchi."

"What harm have I caused her?"

"Stop being stubborn!"

"Stop being insistent."

"Enough you two." Akashi's voice sliced through the tense air, and the two fell silent. He then faced me from ten feet away. "Yukishiro, if I may call you Mitsu, since I'll be seeing you more often—"

"Wait,_ what_—"

"— it isn't fair to do the impossible, so let's take it down a notch. Play with Ryouta."

"Who—" My voice cut off. Kise grinned like he won a prize.

"And Daiki, and Tetsuya."

_Kise-san, Aomine-san, and..._ My brows furrowed. _Who's Tetsuya? Wait, am I actually going along with this? Is this normal for them to do things like this?_

"Me and Tetsu?" Aomine scoffed, his face scrunching. "Is it a two-on-two?"

"That's correct," said Akashi.

"Why?" Aomine and I asked at the same time. We looked at each other, and he shrugged.

"Jinx," he said. Curse me.

Kise asked if I needed to warm up first, and I did some simple stretches and some in-place jogging for a few minutes, while everyone but the Generation of Miracles started packing up to leave. Just what kind of situation _was_ this? This whole... _thing_ felt very bizarre.

As I stopped to breathe in deeply, I felt a ghostly presence brush past me. My nerves spiked at this, when I heard Kise say, "Kurokocchi! Be my partner!"

"Seriously? So I get the girl?" Aomine sighed.

Wait.

_Kurokocchi is Tetsu... ya?_

"Do I have to stay here?" Murasakibara asked, his eyes on me for a minute.

"I must ask this as well," Midorima said coldly, zipping his bag. "I have a test to study for."

"You two will serve as witnesses to someone you'll see more often now," Akashi simply responded, his eyes burning. I shivered at this.

_Why me? Why not the next white-haired basketball girl?_

"The basketball which Mitsu plays," said Akashi, and that was all he said of that. He never finished the sentence. It was probably on purpose.

"Hello," said someone, his hand out in front of me. I looked up, my eyes adjusting rapidly to notice more and more features of a boy I did not see before. His hair was a light blue, his eyes were gentle and wide, and he looked at me with such an inexpressive expression that I was a bit jolted.

"Hello, Kuro-kun— ah, your name isn't that." I let out a shaky breath. "It's Kuroko, isn't it?"

He simply nodded. My head really wasn't in the game at all, but my body refused to shake off the adrenaline. My heart really did want this, not only to play basketball again, but with friends. I wanted and needed a place to belong here, or else I'd spend my junior high days in absolute misery. I'd be invisible the whole time, picked on, and I wouldn't have been able to endure it for much longer.

_Thank you, Kise-san, for being kind enough to show me here. Murasaki-kun, for being comfortable enough to talk to. And the rest of you guys, for making me feel like I'm going to be okay._

_This is going to last all of middle school... right? This joy?_

"Hey, Shiroka," Aomine called, waving his tan hand over my vision. Snapping out of my stupor, I sucked in a breath. I was just going to ignore all of the weird nicknames I was getting.

"I thought there were only—" I counted briefly with my pale fingers, "— five people in the _kiseki no sedai_?"

"Oh yeah, about that," Kise started, slinging an arm around Kuroko, "Kurokocchi's the 'Phantom Sixth Man'!"

I blinked. "Phantom what?"

"You'll see when you finally decide to play," said Aomine, grinning excitedly. He took my arm with a roughness he wasn't aware off, but I was once used to being dragged around by Kagami. In fact, in some ways, Aomine reminded me of him.

_I miss Tai-kun..._

My mind wasn't focused, but my body moved accordingly. Partnering with Aomine was like working with Kagami. They both kicked powerful offense, and not practicing that since I came to Japan, I struggled with the adjustment again. It was clear that all three of the boys weren't playing too rowdy, since I'm playing too.

At first, Aomine's passes were fast and clear, packed with power that my wrists could barely handle. My fingers were red from receiving his passes, but it wasn't like I often gotten them. I really was out-of-shape. That, and Aomine was obviously convinced that he could beat this whole game without me. The pattern he played in was entirely street, and I was familiar with it, but his level was completely out there, entirely different. His passes were irregular, and he had his own unreadable rhythm.

Later on, I noticed something very off. His passes were somehow redirected, as if the air bent to pass the ball to Kise. My eyes dilated, attempting to fathom what was happening, when I saw it.

A blue light, a beam, and I felt so stupid from not noticing it before.

Kuroko's lack of presence gave him an advantage that blew me away. Once I noticed, it was difficult to defend from there initially. It was fast each time, something my brain couldn't slow down to expect. When the ball reached me, and I was ready to dribble it over to where I needed to be, it was slapped out of my hands.

The sounds blurred in my ears. They were distant, and time slowed for a moment. Perhaps I looked completely stupid standing there, or I was really taking the world in with insane concentration. But I noticed him, noticed the ball, and ran.

My breath was short, my heart went haywire in my poor body, but I had enough determination for this.

Seeing the pass, I ran and slapped it to the ground before it could reach Kise for another point. It hurt my hand, bounced straight up and down, and I nearly fell to my knees at the impact. Panting, I could hear muffled sounds of the game ending.

"Wait," I breathed, slowly standing up. "Kuro-kun..."

I could feel him. He was right beside me, his warm hand on my sweaty shoulder.

"Phantom... I can't." I looked at him straight in the eye. "You do misdirection?"

He nodded, handing me a water bottle. Kise laughed, and Aomine grinned wolfishly.

"You've played for only twenty minutes," Aomine moved on, brushing a hand over my bangs and wiping it on his jersey. That was crazy. My heart pounded in my ears, a memory resurfacing.

_"Gross! Look at how much you're sweating, haha!" Kagami had roared, smacking my forehead and wiping it on his shirt._

"But still," Kise said, "that was... Yukishirocchi! How fast did you see him?"

I thought for a second, "I lost track of time, so I wouldn't—"

"Eleven minutes," said Akashi, walking to where I stood. "Mitsu. The average time a person notices Tetsuya is forty-five minutes. Tell me how you noticed him in eleven."

Kise's eyes bulged out, expression in utter shock. "Say _what_!?"

I was equally as shocked. How should I know how I did that?

"It was likely her concentration," Midorima supplied, pushing up his glasses. Random fact that I really shouldn't be mentioning now, but I had a crazy attraction to boys in glasses, but extreme un-attraction to green hair. I suppose it neutralized?

Still, I just noticed this now as he walked towards us too, but his _lower lashes_. They were dark and the most beautiful things I've ever, _ever_ seen. I was paralyzed for a minute there. It made me seriously wonder in all-caps:

_WHY ARE THESE BOYS SO ODDLY ATTRACTIVE FOR BASKETBALL PLAYERS_— _and am I going to be okay!?_

The rest of the conversation was surreal. I don't have much to say about it, really; the rest could be imagined. The thing I knew for sure from this, however, was that this wasn't the end of them.

The next day, during lunch, Murasakibara found me eating on a bench outside and joined me. The day after, Kise picked me up after class to see them play. That weekend, I bumped into Aomine and Kuroko at a convenience store, and we spent some time to talk. The next week, Midorima was off at practice, and he needed a phone charm... so I gave mine to him for the day. Akashi got me to meet Momoi Satsuki, a sweet girl who was like the extroverted version of me.

It was all heartwarming.

* * *

But it didn't last.

* * *

**Rewritten on:**** November 28, 2016**


	3. Boku wa Kuroko desu: Part 1

**Mythia: I haven't been in this anime for a while, so I'm planning to rewatch or read the manga... or smth. ^^"  
**

**But my chapter one has officially been broken into 2 or 3 parts! I'm telling you, it's like, 20 freaking pages long.**

**Thank you for such the kind reviews, and Sia for being the idiot you are. ;) Love ya too~**

* * *

01

I Am Kuroko

_Boku wa Kuroko desu_

High school was here.

Summer felt like nothing.

So I was a little irritated at how I didn't commence the operation of moving away to America. I wanted Tai-kun and Tatsu-kun, not a new private school with new kids and few familiar faces.

Why was life so _unfair_?

I was off that morning... my head had a memory of an event.

_ Kuroko found me sitting under a tree, my back against the trunk and stood before me._

_ "I left them. But we won."_

_ "Of course you did," I mumbled, my eyes planted on the ground._

_ "I know how you feel. They're acting—"_

_ "Like total jerks, Kuro-kun!" I began to shout, being quite upset. I looked up into his slightly concerned eyes. "I know I shouldn't have left because I promised them I'd come to watch, but do you know how it feels to watch your friends just become... like this? Have you noticed, Kuro-kun? Have you?"_

_ Now, Kuroko was different from them. Yes, he was the Phantom Sixth Man, the one whom people would speak of sometimes as if he was a myth. But he had those eyes, the eyes that were like the other Miracles._

_ However, Kuroko was gentle and calm. He enjoyed basketball. But well, now I could see the hate in his eyes._

_ He could see mine._

I shook my head.

Today was choose-your-club day at Seirin High, something everyone had to participate in and choose. There were all sorts of clubs—drama, debate, chess, academics, and—

"Sports." I didn't mean to groan that aloud.

And so the memories poked back into my mind.

_ "I hate basketball," I said to him in such a spiteful way that his eyes slightly widened. Then, I buried my face in my knees and pathetically sniffed._

_ No tears escaped, but my heart felt so weak._

_ Kuroko was silent. Then, he bent his knees to be at my eye level, and leaned in. _

_ I blinked small tears of small freedom at his comfortable embrace. "I do too," he whispered._

_ He hated basketball? So that meant... his love for basketball was also crumpled into nothingness._

_ "However," he let go of me, "I'll get them to realize their mistakes. I'll get the people whom they crushed to love basketball again."_

_ I laughed a little, despite myself. "T-That's impossible."_

_ I've said those words one too many times at my time in Teikou._

_ Kuroko was silent, making me look up to see if he was still there. And he hadn't moved since he let go of me, crossing his legs quietly in front of me. I sighed, "You can try, Kuro-kun. I don't know how you could, but I'd like to see you make an attempt."_

_ But you'd fail._

_ Kuroko nodded. "Shiro-san, this isn't the end. I will help you love basketball again. And in return," he lightly stroked my arm, "I want to see you smile again."_

_ And so, he left me with those words, standing up and walking away._

Clearing my mind for the second time in a row, I glanced back and forth, finding myself in the middle of a large crowd. Someone went right past me, but I only felt the presence and didn't look at whom it was. But it felt... ghostly. Familiar. Strange.

_ I just sat there, hugging my knees. I looked up, with the branches and leaves blocking my view from the blue sky._

_ "Kuroko-kun . . . I hope you're right," I said, knowing that he wasn't there._

_ That was my time in Teikou, with my feelings being amazed but then shattered, defeated. However, because of Kuroko, I mean it. I felt a small spark of, of something inside._

_ A spark of hope perhaps, that was just enough to let me believe that Kuroko might make an effect to basketball. I doubted that he'd restore the love, but he'd benefit from it nonetheless._

The memories faded, meaning I forgot the rest afterward. Not that I wanted to remember though...

My summer was all indoors, reading in bed, sleeping, and eating the ramen goodness. There were piano lessons that summer that I was decent at, but I just really wanted to forget about my middle school life, or even better, my whole entire _past_.

I looked at my uniform, my eyes nervously moving left and right. There were all sorts of new students surrounding me, but they all had black or brown hair, of all sorts of heights and sizes and genders.

I felt really self-conscious of my ivory white hair that was like a small little star in the infinite night sky.

Sighing, I tried walking away from the sports clubs area, but then someone dragged me into a girl's soccer club presentation. Another wanted me in cheer because my legs were slim and my stomach was flat. Well, it wasn't _my_ fault that I didn't really like eating that much. Though, my stomach wasn't _that_ flat . . . in fact, I had some fat in there from the sudden diet on ramen noodles.

Nonetheless, I denied them both. I didn't know how to play soccer, nor was I interested in it. Cheerleading was all miniskirts and splits, along with flipping, which I didn't do. And if I tried, I couldn't because of how stiffly inflexible I was at doing splits.

Needless to say, I was stuck in the sports clubs section for a while.

I managed to sit on a bench, away from some of the chaos. There, I spotted the tennis club, baseball club, volleyball club, and a music club. In the back, way on the other side near this pretty large tree, I knew where that lay—the basketball club.

And it wasn't like they had many players, I knew. It was a new school, after all—

"You're here?"

I looked up from my hands, thinking. At first, I squinted, because I couldn't see anyone calling me. When it struck me, my eyes widened.

Well, that explained the ghostly feeling.

"K-Kuro-kun?"

In truth, I was relieved that at the one-face-I-was-okay-with-seeing was here. Though, I wouldn't have ever guessed he'd be here of all places, a not-so well-known place. Ki-kun moved to Kaijou, Murasaki-kun to Yosen...

"Domo," Kuroko greeted.

I stood up, giving him a small, sheepish smile. "Why are you here?" I asked.

"I live near here," was his reply. I laughed at this.

"S-So, you're going to sign up for the basketball club?"

"I already have."

"Ah, haha... w-wait, what? Really?" I gave him an incredulous look. "But, you can't be serious Kuro-kun! That's j-just... hah?"

He blinked, but smiled a little. "I don't hate basketball anymore. I want to play again," he said. He looked at his open hand and fisted it tight, rotating his wrist.

I stared at his hand. "Kuro-kun, you forgive so easily." I felt a little envious. He forgave so effortlessly—

"I do?"

Despite being a shadow, he shone like the sun to me.

But hold on. "Kuro-kun," I said, looking in Kuroko's eyes, "did you say that you were part of the Teikou basketball team?"

"On the paper, yes," he replied.

"Did you say that you were a Miracle?" I pressed on.

He simply nodded.

I stared at him for the longest time. Kuroko was patient, and never found those situations awkward because of how often it happened for him. Though, I sighed, looking down. "They're going to await a Miracle like Ao-kun or Ki-kun," I told him. "T-Though, they'd be getting someone great! I'm just wondering how you'll be of help in the team, and who'd be the light to your shadow."

"_If_ I get in the team."

I laughed a little at this. "I'm sure you will if they find you, Kuro-kun. It took me a while to actually notice your weak presence."

"Not when you were on court," Kuroko reminded me.

It wasn't that I didn't want to be reminded of my past, but it was good when I thought about Kuroko. He was just a really nice, calming person. On top of that, he was an amazing help of a basketball team and could do things on court many players couldn't predict.

So I mentally rooted for him. If he continued to play basketball, I had to support him as a friend.

Then, a question popped up, which startled me on so many levels.

"There's a manager spot available for the basketball team."

...Okay, so it wasn't a question. It was a subtle suggestion that I _instantly_ caught.

"I'm not being the manager."

Kuroko was smiling inside. I could feel it. He was tempting me into somehow snaking myself back into basketball, or convincing myself to at least _watch_ games and matches again.

I don't know what'd become of me if I did that again...

Suddenly, I felt his hand tug on my wrist, and we rode the chaotic people ride over to the basketball club sign-ups. I was thinking crazy things in my mind at the moment, huffing inside at Kuroko. "S-Stop!" I sputtered. Since my wrist was being held in a way I couldn't escape from, I was helplessly struggling.

Kuroko wasn't ignorant, but stubborn. Those were two completely different things.

So I was being dragged over, and there I saw a girl about my height, with short, brown hair and brown eyes peering at me. "May I help you?" she asked. Examining me, she said while pointing, "Cheerleading's _that_ way."

I wrinkled my nose, sickened. There was _no_ way I was going to cheer in this peppy way with a _miniskirt_ on. I shouldn't even bother to mention the pom-poms. Oh, the _pom-poms_.

"I'm s-sorry, I'll just be going now," I assured her before Kuroko poked my back and I flinched. My back was strangely sensitive.

The girl cocked a brow. Two tall boys sat on either side of her in chairs, also wondering what I was doing. "Which club are you looking for? Koganei can show you where to go if that's the case," she spoke.

At the mention of his name, a cat-eyed boy with brown hair perked up. I laughed sheepishly, "Ah no, that's okay. I'll just be heading off this way—ack!"

Kuroko didn't hesitate to poke my back again. I couldn't believe that they _still_ hadn't noticed his presence.

Sure, he was like a ghost, but I would've noticed him by _now_.

"You okay?" the other guy with the glasses asked.

I nodded, blushing a little. Kuroko was asking to die today. "I'm sorry, I'm a new student," I apologized.

"We can tell," the girl said with an unwavering face. 'Koganei' was amused, but the other two seemed more irritated at me, making me wince.

Seeing my action, the girl slightly softened. "But that's all good. I'm Aida Riko by the way."

I smiled, feeling relaxed now. "Yukishiro Mitsu. Nice to meet you, A-Aida-senpai!"

Aida questioned, "Do you know anyone who's interested in basketball here? We could use some good players."

I held back a laugh. Strangely enough, _all_ of my friends played and were great at it. However, Kuroko's the only one who was enrolled here.

"Do you have Kuroko Tetsuya?" I asked. Aida shuffled through a few papers, and found Kuroko's.

"Hey, yeah... wait a minute!" she suddenly shouted. "You know a Miracle?"

Huh, what do you know? Kuro-kun really _did_ write in that he was a Miracle in his resume.

So I nodded. "I know all of them, but—"

"_Hold on_." A hand halted in front of my face. "_You_ mean to tell me that you _know_ them? As in, met them and watched them play and have been to the school Teikou Junior High _know them_?"

"Well, y-yes."

Her eyes seemed to sparkle, as her hands clasped together and swooned. "You _must_ be our eyewitness on power and strength then," she said, mostly to herself, I thought. "Therefore..."

_Oh_ _no_.

Kuroko planned this, didn't he?

"You _must_ be some sort of manager to _Seirin_ _High's_ basketball team!" she finished. "Please, you must."

The senpai in the glasses sighed tiredly, "We'd like for you to accept. Though, don't feel obligated to do so. Just be in it or don't, because we barely know how well you know about the actual _Kiseki no Sedai_."

"It'd be cool for you to come join our basketball fun!" Koganei said. "We've also collected a really neat player. What was his name? Ah, it was something ferocious. He looked tough, right Hyuga?"

"Oh yeah, him! He's from America," Aida added with a bright beam. "Cool, huh?"

I glanced if Kuroko was behind me. It probably was because I forgot he was still here, but I could no longer see him. But hearing the key word 'America' opened up my ears. "H-Hah? Really?"

"Yeah! His name's Japanese though." The glasses senpai handed Aida the paper, and said, "Kagami Taiga's his name."

That's when I froze completely. My mind had gone blank, echoing 'Kagami Taiga' over and over again. Aida was shaking my shoulder a little, as I was still fuzzily spaced out in cloud-cuckoo-land, not knowing what I was doing or saying in the outside world.

Kagami Taiga was... here?

I mean, was he really, truly _here_? I wasn't just hearing things?

"K-Kagami... Tai-kun?"

Aida blinked several times in confusion. "'Tai-kun'?" she repeated.

I swiveled around, staring at Kuroko with wide eyes, ignoring the fact that I may or may not have looked right at him. "Kagami Taiga! Where is he? I must see him!" I exclaimed.

This didn't make any sense to me. Kagami was in America, wasn't he? Wasn't he mad—no, _furious_ at me for leaving? And now he was a student of a high school in Japan that happened to be where I was attending?

I blanched.

"Yukishiro?" Aida raised a brow in concern. "You okay? Oi!"

I didn't listen. My eyes were finding a certain redhead in the crowd, with a face I could never forget about. It shouldn't be that hard since he was tall, but my eyesight was a little blurred from the alarming information my brain was still processing.

"Shiro-san?" I faintly heard Kuroko say. "Do you know him?"

"He's my brother," I replied absentmindedly, jolting Aida.

"What? That's insane!" she shouted. "How many basketball players do you know?"

Finally, my body could move to my accord, and I turned to them. "S-Sorry about that... Kagami Taiga is someone I know back in America. He taught me basketball, and we were like inseparable siblings," I began to explain, despite my dry throat and scattered thoughts. I pulled out my necklace tucked under my shirt, and showed them the ring. "He has something similar to this on his neck. We played basketball all the time in America, until I moved here."

"But _he's_ here," the guy in glasses pointed out.

"Well, I didn't know," I shyly confessed. "I tried contacting him, but he wouldn't answer my calls or reply to my texts. He never tried contacting me back either. There wasn't much I could do."

Aida ran a hand through her hair in slight frustration. "He's going to be in the gym later today. If you can come, you guys can face each other again, I guess. Just don't make much of a scene. I can't let the other new guys think that we're some sappy team that's never serious."

I felt like my lungs could breathe again. I was relieved so badly, I felt lightheaded. "T-Thank you, Aida-senpai. If it isn't much trouble to you, I'll gladly—"

"Great!" Aida's face broke out into a large grin. "In return, you ought to spill some secrets about the Miracles as our team manager!"

"Eh!? Wait a minute!"

"First thing, stop stuttering! Be a proud woman." Aida was completely ignoring what I had to say, so I reluctantly sighed and pouted.

"Aida-senpai, you can't just do that."

"What do you think, Hyuga? She's just what we need, eh?"

Hyuga, or the guy in the round glasses, shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know. She might be pretty useless if all she did with the Miracles was stare with sparkly eyes at their good-looking faces," he grumbled.

My eyes darted to him. "Hyuga-senpai, I know much about basketball. More than what you'd expect," I sharply spoke.

"That's the fire!" Aida exclaimed with a finger fixated at my face. "Yukishiro, you're pale and skinny. Your hair is white and you look fragile, like a porcelain doll or a china plate. You seem like you'd break your whole body if you played a quarter of a game," she bluntly said. "But maybe I'm underestimating you."

After a hesitation, Hyuga stood up and faced me with stern and overlooking eyes. "I'm giving you one chance. You made our coach soft, so now you prove to me that you have what it takes to benefit our team."

So this meant... that there was no turning back.

I was officially the manager of Seirin's basketball team.

"Kuroko, this is all your fault," I muttered. Behind me, I felt Kuroko's presence. It was as if it was mocking me, and me only, without a soul knowing.

"So, are you joining?" Koganei asked me.

I sighed, "Koganei-senpai, I don't have a choice, d-do I?"

Aida fist pumped the air. "She's in!" But then, she smacked me really hard on the shoulder. "But seriously, stop stuttering."

* * *

**Mythia: Yay! I think?**

**Maybe it's just me, but the ShiroKuro (Black &amp; White) fluff was _so much fun_ to write. Honestly, I thought I'd suck at writing Kuroko, but it wasn't that hard, really! Maybe some parts were OOC, but I wouldn't know because I've forgotten, hahaha. ^^"**

**Please tell me if I'm doing anything wrong, because I really want to improve. All the time. :)**


	4. Boku wa Kuroko desu: Part 2

**Mythia: After all of Chapter 01 is up, it'll be difficult to publish the later chapters, I'm sorry to say. This project is very hard, since it's a canon. But you know... I'm always up for a challenge. :)  
**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

01

I Am Kuroko

_Boku wa Kuroko desu_

_[continued]_

"Eek!"

My shriek alerted the teacher. Standing before me, he checked my twisted ankle. Some students groaned at me for being such a klutz, while others quietly snickered. This one girl peered at me, worried about me.

"It seems that you need to stay in the school infirmary," the teacher muttered. "You can't go to the gym like this."

"That's _today_?" a girl whined.

The teacher ignored her. "I'll have you take her, Kimiko."

Kimiko, the girl who fretted at my ankle, twitched a small smile. "Ah, okay sensei!" she chirped. Helping me up, I limped to the infirmary with the girl.

"You okay?" she asked me. She giggled. "Well, at least I don't have to go the gym anytime soon. I can stay with you!"

I laughed nervously. "I-I don't think you should do that," I remarked.

"Nah, no one would mind. It's only the first day of school after all." She looked at me. "I'm Kimiko Haruka. My older sister goes here, so I'm pretty familiar with this place."

"Is that r-right?"

"Ha! Well anyway, how bad is that ankle? I hope it's pretty bad, so we don't have to climb up those pointless ropes, or run indoor laps." Kimiko stuck her tongue out in disgust. But then she quickly stopped. "Oh, I didn't mean it that way! I hope you're okay! I just hope you... are a good actor. I'm sorry, I just hate the gym that much."

"It's okay, Kimiko-san," I said. "Many girls don't like the gym."

"Do you like it?"

I blinked. In all honesty, I wasn't sure what to say. "W-Well, I detest it sometimes, but not because I'm terrible... I like it on other times because it makes me feel like I'm in another world. B-But I wouldn't like if it was, um, shaped basketball court form."

"Eh? Why a basketball court?"

I didn't realize that I just randomly sputtered out words that were in my head until that question popped up. I flinched. "Oh, well—I-I don't really—well um, it's just that—"

I couldn't answer, and it felt like I was trapped.

"Uh, it's okay, Yuki-chan! I won't ask." Kimiko waved her arms around with an uneasy grin. "Sorry."

"No, i-it's fine."

We spent our entire gym time in the infirmary. I really... regret it all.

~_The Basketball Which Kuroko Plays_~

I looked at my paper for the umpteenth time. "I can't believe this..."

Seirin High wasn't big for a private school, but it was more like a maze. I passed through the same classroom numbers, and found myself in the cafeteria and the English room one too many times in the _junior year's floor_. How hard was it to find the gym room here?

My eyes wandered grumpily, and caught sight of a tall second-year with straight black hair and dark, narrow eyes.

Wait a second. I was in the sophomore year's floor now? How could I not have realized that sooner?

Trying to stay firm under a few second year students' gazes (though I was considerably failing), I walked up to him. "E-Excuse me."

The boy was looked at me quizzically. "You're looking for me?" he asked, glancing around to see if I was talking to him.

"Oh, I-I just assumed you knew where the gym was, since you're a second year and all. A-And to me, you look like a basketball player a bit." I wanted to smack myself at the last part said. Well, it was said.

He lit up anyway. "I am a basketball player! It's cool that you seem to tell. Is it my height?"

I uneasily replied, "S-Sure." Then, I quickly added, "I wanted to go there to watch."

The boy blinked, but smiled in understanding. "I'm Izuki Shun. I'm about to go to the gym; I had cleaning duties in homeroom. But wow, how long have you been looking?"

"It feels like days..."

He laughed at this. "Really? I'll show you the way then." He looked at the 'new student' lanyard hanging around my neck, and said aloud, "Yukishiro Mitsu. That's like a name straight from an anime!"

I smiled. "T-Thank you?"

He just talked and talked as we walked to the gym. "Well anyway, I heard from Aida that we had cool people signing up for the team. She has to take hold of these people, whoever they are. Oh, and there's this girl that's our manager. She used to go to Teikou you see, so she knows about the Generation of Miracles really well! You know the _Kiseki no Sedai_, right? Well anyway..."

I wasn't exactly listening to him. My mind was set on seeing Kagami again. Oh goodness, what should I say to someone like him? Was he the same as the Taiga I knew? Or did he change?

In my mind, I hoped he didn't.

"Hey, what's your first impression of your first day here? Do you like Seirin so far?"

I nodded. "Oh, yes. The teachers aren't as strict as the ones back in my middle school, so I feel relieved."

"What about the students?"

"T-The senpais are kind like you here."

Izuki blushed a little. "Ha, that's nice."

Sighing, I couldn't help but think of Kuroko. I wondered what it'd be like to see my best friend meet my brother.

"Here we are," Izuki announced. He politely opened the door for me, and I stepped in to smell that it was only a little used for the day. So it wasn't too smelly, like Teikou's gym after the basketball club would use it.

The people were inside, and then it struck me. My heart pounded all of a sudden, ringing in my ears. I felt frozen and shy, seeing a whole bunch of guys in the room with their eyes on me.

Well, all except for one person.

Hyuga was acting tough, speaking in a strict and rough tone that slightly scared three of the people who signed up. Only four people showed up. Oh, there were five. My eyes were adjusting to Kuroko.

"Don't mind the people. Look at me!" Hyuga snapped. The distracted first-years were looking at Izuki and I, quickly turning their heads back to the irritated senpai.

Izuki casually jogged up to Hyuga. "A girl's here to watch us, I guess," he said to him.

"I know. She's supposed to be here."

"Wait, _she's_ the girl?" Izuki glanced back at me. "Really? Whoa, okay."

My grey eyes were slowly widening at Kagami's presence. He really was there, with his dark red hair. He certainly grew, but that wasn't surprising, knowing how much he'd eat in one sitting. But I was stunned to the spot.

Aida, standing near the benchers, caught me staring in half-registered shock. I shook my head vigorously, trying to find a seat. When I did, I was quietly observing them all.

In all honesty, Kagami was like the guy in the spotlight, while the others awkwardly stood there like they had a pointless role in the play. And these weren't my thoughts because Kagami was my friend. Anyone would've agreed.

Kuroko wasn't even noticed until Aida called him up. Before that, Kagami was called, and he left an intimidating impression. But back to Kuroko—

As I thought, they all had doubtful faces. He confirmed that indeed he was part of the Miracles. However, Aida was ticked and slightly glum at the invisible boy. "Are you kidding me?" her aura seemed to drawl.

They only did introductions that day. Kagami seemed to have something in his mind when he was packing to leave.

My heart was racing; I wanted to go to him. But sadly, my body was paralyzed and wouldn't move. My mouth whimpered pathetically.

Did Kagami even once glance my way? He should've noticed my white hair by now. It always looked like it was glowing!

"Tai-kun?"

Red eyes peered up. Kagami's face scrunched up, then he proceeded to tie his shoes, and zip up his bag.

He didn't notice me. Before I knew it, I had lost my chance.

Kagami Taiga left the gym room.

I sighed. I mean it, I saw him look my way! But why didn't he see me?

Izuki was still here, and he frowned when he saw a stray tear slip past my cheek. "Are... are you _crying_?"

I hastily wiped my eye and hiccupped. "N-No." Why would I cry like a pitiful wimp, when there was not a reason in this world to? I sat down, rubbing my eyes. I knew it was going to redden, but who cared?

Izuki sat down beside me. "Um, I'm just wondering something. After a while, Aida thought you left. In fact, the others thought so too, including me. Did you go out sometime while we talked and came back to speak with that tall guy?"

"I d-didn't leave," I replied. Well, I couldn't say that didn't baffle me.

"Huh. Really? Hey, is it something you and that Miracle man can do? Look like you disappear and—"

"I can't do that," I interrupted. "Only Kuro-kun can do that. No other person I know can try and _not_ fail at it."

Izuki looked at me. "But we all thought you disappeared," he insisted. "Huh, that's weird."

Thanks to him, I was too busy being confused to cry anymore. So I laughed, gracing a puzzled expression over the basketball player's face. "T-Thank you, Izuki-kun."

"For what?"

I smiled, and patted his shoulder, standing up from the benchers. "I stopped crying because of you. But now, I need to do two things: track down Tai-kun, and wonder about my supposed 'invisibility.'"

I didn't believe him. He was probably just messing with me.

Izuki blushed again. "It's fine, really. Don't thank me."

Patting down my pleated skirt, I said my goodbyes to him and left the school.

I was walking home that evening. The sun was setting beautifully, but the sounds of cars and afternoon traffic ruined the peace, to my disappointment. Then, the sound of a basketball was heard in my ears.

I stopped walking. My ears didn't do that ever; as in hear things that weren't really there. Sighing, I followed the sound, not really needing to be home too soon.

It led me to a street basketball court not too far from Seirin. Though, to say that I was shocked at the two people playing one-on-one was an understatement.

"T-Tai-kun? Kuro-kun?"

The both of them stopped for a moment. But then they resumed playing.

Inside, my head spun. It was only the first day of school! All I wanted for my high school life was for it to be normal, maybe above average grades, and some college credits at the most, nothing too great! But instead, I get to be manager of my high school's basketball team, with my American brother and my best friend that I'm still questionable about. After all, I hated my middle school life.

Please don't ask why.

Watching them felt weird. I never did a one-on-one with Kuroko before, so I never experienced his effect with just him against only me on court.

And in all honesty... not to be mean, or anything...

A five-year-old could win against him.

Kuroko hadn't even gotten a ball in when he shot at rare times, and his defensive abilities were to his disadvantage because of his height. So, not even scoring once, it was Kagami for the win by a landslide.

"You're terrible! And you call yourself a Miracle? Stop joking around, kid!" Kagami shouted. He was obviously disappointed. "I need to find a real opponent around here. Miracles should be easy to defeat if you're as puny as them."

My eyes widened. I stepped up, quite loudly, causing two pairs of wide eyes to look at mine for the first time since the club introduction.

"Now look right here! I've been standing here the entire time, watching most of the game, and I know Kuroko. Offense... or defense... they aren't his forte! However, he's a valuable addition to Seirin's basketball team. I've known him for how long. Yes, he needs to improve, but you do too Tai-kun! You've been slacking when you could've aimed at better at stamina, o-or, or strength. Both of you, I didn't expect you to be here." My brows furrowed. "Tai-kun, that wasn't nice of you to say such hurtful and stingy words. Yes, I'm here. Yes, you're not seeing things. But no, things aren't going to be the same between us. You... I have nothing to say now!"

Kagami just stood there like a gaping fish. No ones escaped his mouth. He was stiffly staring for what seemed like hours, looking at me as if I was a ghost. "T... Tsu?" was all he could utter.

I fixated my gaze to the concrete floor, glancing around from time to time. "Tai-kun, welcome to Japan. I go to Seirin as well, a-and I know Kuro-kun—erm, Kuroko Tetsuya. Kuro-kun," I looked up to meet his indifferent blue eyes, "this is Kagami Taiga, or Tai-kun, my b-brother from America."

Under my shirt, my hand found the ring in the chain necklace, and I pulled it out. "I didn't like Japan. But because of T-Teikou and their basketball, I began liking it. But then... well, I don't want to talk about it. We split apart, end of story. So in Seirin, I was hoping not to get involved in basketball anymore, but... now I'm Seirin's manager for the basketball team."

I mean it when I say that I've never said a longer monologue in my life. But the other two were silent, so I had to keep babbling.

"I just don't really k-know anymore—"

"Tsu. Shut up."

I squeaked, tentatively looking up at Kagami's face. He looked more intimidating and strong, like a beast. He was no longer the person I knew back in America years ago. He was a Taiga (tiger).

"I've been sick when you left. Tatsuya and I aren't the same. You and I aren't the same either. I thought it'd just be best if we just forgot about each other and our past."

"I-I tried that."

Kagami blinked, not expecting that from me. He continued, "You meant a lot to me, you know. And for you to leave without wanting to tell me made me pissed."

"I f-figured, Tai-kun."

Kuroko watched us, as we awkwardly spoke.

"And now that you're here... hell, I don't break promises."

"H-Huh?"

Kagami groaned, "You forgot our promise?"

"No, I-I didn't! It's just..." I trailed off. But then I finished, "I'm wearing a skirt."

The wind was the only thing heard.

"A-And it's late, I don't have a change of clothes and—"

"Seriously? A little skirt's what's pulling you down? You said that the first thing we'd do is to play a one-on-one!"

"We were in _sixth grade_! Did I know any better?"

"Here." Kuroko plopped a shirt and shorts on my head. I blinked when it fell onto my hands.

"Kuro-kun, I can't use your clothes. That's just ridiculous," I stammered.

"Yeah, her waist is _really_ small."

I huffed lightly at Kagami, "How would you know?"

He simply looked away.

I began folding the clothes given to me, and carefully arranged it inside Kuroko's bag. "Kuro-kun, I just can't use these. It'd be big on me, so I'll just work with what's on me right now."

"What?"

Almost shamelessly, I pulled down my skirt and threw my top off. With wide eyes, the two stared. Kagami was blushing madly at first, but then he was red in anger at me. "Tsu, are you kidding me!?"

Underneath my school uniform was a pair of shorts and a simple tight tank top. "I can't wear a skirt with nothing underneath, Tai-kun," I teased. "I have modesty."

"T-That's just sick, Tsu."

"I'll lose against you though, you know that?" I still had that recently twisted ankle, which is in much better condition, but it could still act up anytime during the game. I had to be aware of that.

A ball was already being bounced up and down. My body moved into a simple position, not exactly warmed up but Kagami wasn't that warmed up either. Kuroko was barely an opponent to him; that I knew.

Kuroko stepped back. Kagami smirked. "Don't care. Your play, Tsu."

* * *

**Mythia: It's official. I love Kuroko no Basuke. ****Hahaha, then again, I've always loved it. XD**

**As I revised this on the fanfiction thingamajigger, I realized that Yuki's monologuing was, well, long. Please don't skip that part. Unless you don't really care. In that case, you didn't have to read it.**

**And yesssss. Sibling reunion, amiright? :D**

**Thank you for reading! Please tell me if you notice any mistakes, or if you have any suggestions/requests you want to see in this story.**

**Preview? Preview!**

Aida's eyes widened. "That's really..."

"I was surprised too when I first knew. I had no words to describe his play either. But I'd say now that it's cunning."

Aida crossed her arms, impressed. "Shrewd."

"Sneaky."

"Sly."

"Nifty."

"I'll say," agreed Aida. "I can't underestimate this guy anymore. He's wimpy, but he might be useful. Hey, write in more detail about Kagami and Kuroko."


	5. Boku wa Kuroko desu: Part 3

**Mythia: Hey guys! Does Mitobe have a seiyuu? XD Maybe not. He doesn't talk, after all... hehehe, what a random thought, no?**

**Please, enjoy the final segment of Episode 01! :) I'd say Happy Belated New Year, but meh. People might see this in like, March and go, 'It was New Year a long time ago...' People might see this next year. Who knows.**

* * *

01

I Am Kuroko

_Boku wa Kuroko desu_

_[continued]_

"You know, your friend should just quit basketball."

"W-What? No, he shouldn't! His strength is entirely different, you see."

Kagami gave me a bored look.

After the basketball game, which I sorely lost, Kagami came with me to see my parents. They were glad that he moved to Japan, asking a little about Himuro. But those conversation ties were always cut off and moved to a different conversation. I wondered why he'd do that.

Did something happen after I left?

Kagami left the house to head home, and it wasn't far, so we found out that we used the same route to school next morning. Well, more like Kagami showed me his route. I took the car the first day, and immediately traffic formed, so I was late to school that time.

Walking to school didn't take long. And the day went by so quickly. The teachers didn't expect too much from the students, so some of them were late that day, and the learning was basic.

Doing biology was disgusting because of how blunt the teacher was at addressing parts of animals or the human body. Geometry class gave me a headache. All of these formulas, with lots of algebra mixed in were just terrible. But after that, English class was like a jump for joy, with a breeze of fresh air on a warm, sunny day.

Soon, I entered gym class for a second time for an actual class. Kimiko was visibly down because of this. She was asking me the class before to break a part of my body again, but that'd look like it was purposely done.

In the end, it was shown that I was above average at P.E. I was better than some of the boys, to my surprise.

Of course, there was Kagami. He was in my gym class, and he had more of the spotlight when it was his turn to do whatever the coach instructed him to do.

After my last class, which was history, I got lost again trying to find the gym, and had Hyuga help me find it like I was blind. "Haven't you been here for gym class?" he inquired, exasperated. "Twice?"

"W-Well..." Should I have answered?

I laughed nervously. "S-Sorry, Hyuga-senpai."

"Your job today is to find the stats of our recruits with Aida," he spoke, probably being on okay terms with me.

"Oh, that's n-no problem," I waved off.

"You better get used to no stutters though. Aida would easily get annoyed."

I blinked. "And you're not?"

He stared at me through his round glasses dryly. "I could care less, since you're just a timid freshman to me. But if this continues in the middle of the year, I'll get pissed."

"G-Got it. Oh, sorry about that!"

"Enough apologies too. That'll get old fast."

"A-Alright. Oh, s—"

A hand was smacked onto my mouth. "What did I just say?"

"I was about to say, 'Oh, sheet,'" I said sensibly. "You know, like the cuss word that my mom had taught me not to say. 'Shikushou!' Eh, that sounded lame!"

Hyuga snorted. "Do you think I'd buy that crap? Don't treat me like I'm dumb."

"I wasn't intending to," I said.

We entered the gym. "Hey, you all!" Hyuga shouted for attention. "Our manager's here. Her name is Yukishiro Mitsu."

"Aha, nice to meet you all," I greeted with a small wave. My eyes met Kagami's, who looked at me with a silent sigh, looking away. My smile vanished.

Kuroko watched me with emotionless eyes as I stepped to where Aida was. "You guys have seen her before," affirmed Aida. "Yukishiro will watch how you play and note your stats. If she notices what you can't do, we'll have a special training for you. Maybe you'd be a regular if this keeps up."

While the other first years were surprised at my presense, Kagami suddenly blurted out, "Wait, we're _not_ in the regulars yet?"

Aida's eyes narrowed promptly. "What? Did you expect that we'd welcome you with open arms? We're not stupid," she snarled. "You recruits are going to go against your senpais."

A second-year I haven't properly met yet stood behind me in complete silence. It felt a little awkward, so I smiled at him. "H-Hello."

I was met with a smile and no words.

Koganei whispered to me, "Mitobe doesn't talk."

"Oh."

"Did I tell you my name yet?" he asked me, with his cat-like eyes on mine.

"Well, it's Koganei-senpai... right?"

Even his smile was like a cat's. "Right-o! Koganei Shinji. And that's Mitobe Rinnosuke. He's really nice, so don't worry about him," he assured me.

"Ah, I wasn't worried." Did I look worried to him? Maybe it was because I had to rate them and work on a bunch of personal schedules for each of them. There may be only a handful of players, but I didn't like the idea of having to go through all of them individually.

"Now, the ones that you'd have to be careful around are Hyuga Junpei and Aida Riko. They're total hotheads—"

Aida was standing behind Koganei as he said this. Koganei froze, and slowly rotated. "Did you say something?" Aida's lips were twitching in several places.

"N-No!" Koganei quickly lied. Before I knew it, he was behind me with his hands on my shoulders. I squeaked at the pressure on my shoulders and the glaring senpai before me.

That was soon taken care of though. We had to begin the practice match, with the senpai-tachi versus the kouhai-tachi.

My left leg shook as I jotted down my thoughts and scores on each player. Though, I was constantly distracted by Kagami's play. He was mercilessly dominating the court, with one dunk after the other. He was no ordinary beast, I knew.

_But he's nothing compared to the Miracles_, I reminded myself. _He's far from their level_.

Continuing writing things down, I checked on Kuroko. I was truly concerned with him. Whenever the ball landed in his hands, it always got stolen easily, without hesitation. _What are you doing Kuro-kun? I know you're better than this_.

Kuroko glanced up where I was. His eyes trailed to my clipboard, and then for a moment he just stood there, while everyone else moved around. "Kuroko! Move your ass this instant!" Aida roared.

He resumed playing after that echoed around the gym. And soon after, the senpai-tachi triple-teamed as defense against Kagami, preventing him from any more dunks. Because of that, the second-years quickly had their lead.

My hand ran through white locks. "Kuroko," I muttered, "what are you doing just standing there idly?"

Kagami was getting irritated at the point gap. Fired up, he tried more ruthlessly, but the attempts were futile because of the strong defense focused on him.

Kuroko looked up at me a second time, and nodded. I jerked inwardly at this. "Huh?"

Before I knew it, I began to see it once more: Kuroko's flash passes. Because I haven't seen it in such a while, my eyes hurt quickly at the speed. Shaking my head, my eyes drew back to the clipboard on my lap.

"Where do they keep coming from?" Aida questioned beside me. I felt her brown eyes scanning around and squinting. She finally went ahead and eyed me, expecting an answer.

I looked up at her and smiled a little. "Kuroko's the rumored Phantom Sixth Man," I simply explained. "His abilities are different than what you expected, no? When I played against him, I found out about his abilities."

"But how does he keep doing that?"

I hesitated. "I-It's hard to explain, but Kuroko's weak presence gives him an advantage to passing, you see."

Kuroko passed to one of the first-years, Furihata Kouki, and they scored a point. Aida's eyes widened. "That's really..."

"I was surprised too when I first knew. I had no words to describe his play either. But I'd say now that it's cunning."

Aida crossed her arms, impressed. "Shrewd."

"Sneaky."

"Sly."

"Nifty."

"I'll say," agreed Aida. "I can't underestimate this guy anymore. He's wimpy, but he might be useful. Hey, write in more detail about Kagami and Kuroko."

I nodded, writing things I knew about them down. The task given was pretty easy for me, since I was already familiar with their habits and play style. The way Kagami played wasn't very different from before.

I heard him dunk again. "He never changed," I said with a smile, writing several more things about that particular first-year.

"Can you write some observations on the second-years a little?" asked Aida.

"Ah, that's fine." I almost stuttered. Thank goodness I didn't. So I just wrote and wrote, until my hand was sore.

When I sensed the game was almost over, I dropped my pencil down and laid the clipboard beside me. Then, I began to watch, and I noticed how Kuroko seemed to use all of the players during the passing. But as I concentrated more on his moves and roughly calculated whom he was passing to the most, it was Kagami.

Was Kuroko trying to impress him? Oh, that couldn't be right; Kuroko wasn't the kind of person who'd do that.

It was the match point. The first-year team was only a point behind the opposing team. If they could get at least a two-pointer, they'd win...

My leg shook in anticipation again. Aida noticed this and deadpanned, saying, "You're too excited. This is nothing, Yukishiro."

"I know. But this might be a very important match," I replied sensibly. "This shows if Kuroko and Kagami are good players to your team or not, right?"

Aida blinked once. She looked away. "I knew that!"

We both looked up simultaneously, and saw the final pass and shot. Kuroko lightning passed to Kagami, who dunked and scored two points. The match was over.

The freshman team won.

Both Aida and I stared for a minute, just forcing ourselves to think. Then, I stood up and walked to Kuroko, holding out a towel for him to take. "Great job impressing them!" I said.

"Thank you."

Tentatively, I moved to Kagami too. He took the towel in my hands and wiped his sweaty face. "You're really sweaty for a small game," I commented.

He glared at me, but I just held a teasing smile. "You play against them. They all teamed up on me."

"But you could've taken them all on Tai-kun," I pressed on. "I thought you said back then you, and I quote, 'have the power of ten men.' Don't you remember that?"

I knew Kagami was still mad at me, seeing me again. We both never saw this coming. We probably thought the same thing: we were once the best of friends, it didn't last, and we moved on with our lives. Though, I suppose what made Kagami mad the most was the realization that he missed me.

Well, I missed him too. Nothing was the same without the trio, Kagami, Himuro, and I together.

"I was ten," he growled.

Shrugging, I patted his forearm. "You're really big. You've grown."

"Well, you don't stutter anymore," he retorted. "And you barely grew. And you look like glass."

I furrowed my brows. "'Glass'? What's that supposed to mean?"

He looked at me with a 'seriously?' face. "Tsu, you look so fragile, like a newborn baby or something. You look like you can't hurt a fly. And you don't look like you've ever _touched_ a basketball before." He turned around to pack. "Just saying."

I huffed. "I do not."

Kuroko had to agree with Kagami, "You do."

I frowned. "I wasn't talking to you."

Later on, I headed home. But before that, I had to get Kagami's contact information. His cell phone was different, but he did live near.

While I did my homework, I got a call. "Moshi, moshi?"

"Your friend is creepy!" That was the first thing I heard from the other line.

"Tai-kun, I have no idea what you're talking about." I deadpanned, clicking my pen.

"I meant that Phantom Miracle. I'm at Maji Burger, and I order my food, then I sit down."

"What's so creepy about that?" I asked, thinking about that small little restaurant that sells burgers and milkshakes. Oh, and those fries are pretty good too... oh wait, Kagami is still talking to me... oops.

"—I mumble to myself, and _bam_! He's right in front of me, and I actually believe him when he says that he's been here the entire time!" he exclaimed. Okay, so I don't think I've missed that much. Man, I must be hungry. I'll get some fries later—wait, what did he say?

"Ah, 'here'? You mean he's in front of you as you speak?" I spoke incredulously. "Tai-kun, you're being rude."

Kagami scoffed. "It's not like he cares."

"He does too. Be considerate for once, Tai-kun," I began to shout.

"How would you know that? You just met him yesterday."

"No I haven't!" I opposed. "Kuro-kun has been a friend of mine since I came to Japan. Of course you wouldn't know, but don't say such carelessly rude things in front of people Taiga!"

Back then, whenever I said his first name angrily, he'd run silent. At least that didn't change about him.

I sighed, "Tai-kun, how would you feel if I said to Kuroko insolent things about you while you're around?"

"I wouldn't care."

"Really now?" I raised a brow. "That's unbelievable."

"Stop talking like that."

Now that caught me off guard. "W-What?"

"It doesn't sound right," Kagami continued while chowing down a burger. At least, his mouth was shamelessly full while he was speaking. "I mean you try to sound like you're sure of yourself, but I know you Tsu. You always think before you speak, so stop forcing yourself to sound smart."

"I'm no-not trying to!" I stammered.

Kagami chewed and swallowed two more burgers. "I know the Tsu that stutters. She's fiery, but she's cooler than that."

"W-Well, I just don't want Aida-senpai or Hyuga-senpai to be mad at me, that's all," I said honestly, stroking my hair and wrapping a finger around a lock. "They're pretty scary. They told me to be more affirmative and to stop st... stuttering."

I could hear him on another burger.

"How many did you get?" I questioned.

"I think fifteen or so," was his reply. "I'm dieting."

Ah. Wait... Kagami only bought that much? He really must be dieting to only get fifteen.

"Your stuttering is really annoying," he suddenly said. "Though, I got used to it. It's no big deal anymore for me. But I can imagine those two getting pissed at you."

I pouted. "No need to remind." Then, I had a thought and asked, "Can you hand the phone to Kuro-kun?"

The phone was silent for a little bit. Then Kagami answered, "Here's not here anymore."

"Just tell him to talk, and you'll see him Tai-kun," I suggested.

A few voices and noise was heard over the line, and then I heard the phone drop. When it was picked up, Kagami barked, "It's official! This guy's either a ghost or he's magical!"

My eyes narrowed. "Tai-kun, you know I don't believe in either of those things. It's not rational."

He moaned, "Here comes practical Tsu."

"People are way too superstitious these days! Ghosts are ridiculously unreasonable. And don't even get me started on the concept of magic—"

"No one cares, Tsu."

I huffed and moved on. "Tai-kun, is Kuro-kun still there?"

"Speaking of him, how did you know him anyway? How come he knows basketball?"

I paused to think for a few seconds. The other line was noisy, but Kagami was silent. So I responded, "I wanted to see if the Generation of Miracles were better than you, or my basketball friends in America. And, in all honesty, they were. Kuroko was the only one that I really liked though."

"You really liked him?"

I smiled. "He was a nice person," I said, as if that answered everything. "His play style, I admit, was strange. But I liked it; there was something to it that I didn't even see coming until it happened."

Kagami was quiet for a moment. "Are you doing your work?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?"

He grumbled, "Just do it, I'm done eating. See you tomorrow."

I blinked at the flat line. "T-Tai-kun?" I then hung up.

I began to wonder what Kagami was doing. What was Kuroko doing? How did he feel about what Kagami said?

A sigh escaped my lips. I wondered something though, _Kuro-kun... is Tai-kun the one?_

Was Tai-kun the one who'd be... the light?

_"Ehh? My pen_—"

* * *

**Mythia: Haha. Well.**

**Kagami: What?**

**Mythia: I don't know. It's 3 AM over here. I'm just tired, so I'll just go to bed already.**

**Kise: It says on your New Year's Resolution that you'd be sleeping earlier from now on! What happened to that?**

**Mythia: Idk. Maybe it went AWOL? *yawns***

**Kise: You should sleep. I'll entertain the readers!**

**Kagami: When did you get here?**

**Mythia: Ah, ok... here, Kise, you can have my author powers for a minute...**

**Kagami: Wait, what? You give your author powers to Kise of all people!?**

**Kise: Hehe, thanks~!**

**Kagami: You're going to regret doing that, Mia!**

**Mythia: Don't care... *snoozes***

**Kise: Alright, first things first! Take away the one who's annoying me right now!**

**Kagami: What the f****— *disappears***

**Kise: Hahaha, what next~?**


	6. Honki Desu: Part 1

**Mythia: Whoops. I forgot about this fanfic to be honest LOL.**

**I'm sorry for a late update! I told you that they will be slow, right? I have exams next week too, so please don't expect me to be quick this month. But once summer hits, I promise you that updates will be quick.**

**But let me first say that I'm so grateful to those who favorited/followed, and those who took the time to review. It means a lot to me that people like this story. :)**

**And ANNOUNCEMENT! Do you know Haikyuu? For those who do and read Haikyuu! fanfiction, I am in the process of writing for that fandom as well! So, I hope my brain isn't sucked dry from writing all of these fics by now... so many plots to remember lol how do I remember so many characters and such shoot me.**

**I am also writing for Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (lol and I actually want to leave ff by August... wtf am I doing XD)**

* * *

02

I Am Serious

_Honki Desu_

[Part One]

I blinked.

My eyes watched as Kagami went in for another dunk.

A smile found its way upon my lips when he showed his excitement on his sleeve. "Yes! This'll show 'em!"

I began to laugh. "Tai-kun, that wouldn't impress them at all."

"How'd _you_ impress them then?" Kagami scoffed, momentarily stopping to glare at me.

"I'm just charismatic and pure awesome that way."

"Hahaha, _sure_." Sarcasm detected.

Kagami continued to play, moving faster and faster after each dunk. Then, I've noticed that he'd been jumping and jumping, over and over again.

I decided to ask, "Do you get tired jumping like that?"

Kagami officially stopped after that, and sat beside me. "Yeah, it kind of hurts," he muttered in response, as he patted his leg a bit. But then he sideways glared at me. "If you tell anyone about that..."

"My lips are sealed." I zipped my lips shut and threw away the key.

Leaning to the side, I drew out a water bottle. "Tai-kun, are you thirsty?" I asked, as I held out the bottle. He snatched at it and greedily chugged it down.

So he was thirsty.

When it was all gone, I took out another bottle for myself, but Kagami grabbed at that one and drank.

"You're going to use the bathroom, Tai-kun."

"Why you—shut up."

We were silent for a small while, just quietly thinking. Then, I broke the silence awkwardly and said, "Why did you call me out?"

Kagami looked at me for a moment, tilting his head to think. "Kuroko - he told me that he'd help me defeat the Miracles Tsu," he said. "He also said that you could help me too."

I smiled. "Of course I can help you, in any way I can. Though, _mada, mada dane._" I flicked his nose and laughed while he looked away in annoyance.

_You still have a long way to go, Tai-kun_.

"You're still a nerd you know. Watching - what was that? 'Prince of Tennis'?"

"Hey."

Kagami moved on. "Kuroko said that he'd make me the best player of Japan."

"Really?" I blinked.

"Yeah," he breathed. "What do you think? Suits me?"

"Not really, no. Just know it's going to be difficult," I said humbly. But Kagami just arrogantly scoffed.

"If I had a match with a Miracle anytime soon, who do you think will win?"

"Tai-kun, the Miracle would win without even trying against you. Even the weakest one would."

"I beat Kuroko. How hard could it be to beat another of his kind, huh?"

I stifled a laugh. By the way his face looked as he said that, he seemed barely proud of defeating Kuroko, because of how easily the small match was taken care of. "I was talking about someone else, a _light_," I said. "Kuroko must've said something about that with you, right?"

Kagami nodded. "Who's the weakest?" he questioned.

"Ah, that'd be Kise Ryouta," I clarified. "He copies moves from other players and makes them better. I remember he tried copying my twist shot."

"How'd he do?"

"Oh, so you're interested?" I asked in surprise, as I leaned back a bit while holding onto my knee. "Well, since his dominant hand was his right, he tried doing my move the opposite way. He backed up his right hand on the ball and twisted his left ankle. Because of that, he couldn't do it."

He nodded a little, staring up at the night sky in the street court. "Did he try your way, using his left hand?"

"Yes, he did. He did it, but it was weaker than what it could be because of, well... you know."

Silence.

"Hey, do you think we forgave each other too quickly?"

"Who said I forgave you Tsu?"

I turned to him. "W-Wait, so you didn't forgive me?" I looked hurt, so he smacked my head. "Ow!"

"Take a joke. Siblings can't get mad at each other over little things in the past forever."

I was quiet for a few seconds, the words sinking in. Then, I just had to laugh. "Aha, you're so deep sometimes Tai-kun."

Because of that, I earned another smack. "Ack! Stop that! You're killing my brain cells."

Kagami snorted. "Who the hell says that?"

* * *

"Yuki-chan!" Kimiko called enthusiastically. "Over here!"

I rushed over to her, adjusting my skirt. Oh, the morning rushes to school were just - ugh. "What is it?"

"I heard that you were the manager of the basketball team! Didn't you say that you hated basketball before?"

My eyes stared at her dark brown hair and golden brown eyes. "W-Who told you that?"

"Well, I've heard from my friend's friend that she saw you in the second year's floor, talking with Izuki-kun. She told me that he was a basketball member of the club!" She blushed a little as she thought. I wondered what she thought.

"Do you like Izuki-senpai?" I asked her, my head tilted sideways.

Her blush only deepened, which pretty much gave me an answer. "Um, well I - uh..."

"That's really cute, Kimiko-san," I said as I smiled genuinely. "You two will be quite the pair."

"W-Wait, you mean—! No way, no how, no! No!" She squirmed vigorously.

"I can take you to him if you want, if Hyuga-senpai won't be mad. Or maybe I'll just not let him find out." When I saw her blush again, I blinked. "H-Hold on, you like Hyuga-senpai too?"

She meekly nodded. "They're both just..."

Now I knew I had a boy-crazy girl as a friend.

"I mean - their muscles! Their height! Their sweat!"

"Their sweat?"

"Their charming faces! Oh, the _faces_!"

"… Hyuga-senpai included?"

"And don't forget that they're _basketball players_! Are they good Yuki-chan? Oh, please tell me they're good!"

I thought for a moment, trying to ignore the fact that Kimiko looked sparkly over the two boys. _She better not like Koganei-senpai or Mitobe-senpai too_, I thought. "They're very good," I assured her, as we walked to homeroom.

She exhaled dramatically. "Good! Maybe they're better now than last year."

My eyes narrowed slightly in confusion, as I asked, "What do you mean?"

"You don't know, Yuki-chan? There was this Inter-High thing between basketball players of, I don't know, the district? But anyway, they go against each other, and Seirin High didn't make it very far. I think it was maybe a school that had really tough players in them? I don't know much, but it was bad."

"H-How do you know that?" I couldn't help but shiver a little in pity. Seirin…

She giggled awkwardly, "Silly Yuki-chan. My older sister knows all about it! She's interested in basketball, unlike me. And my friend's friend knows a bit about basketball too."

Class had to start before we could speak again. And, well, I was greeted with _this_ after second period:

"Argh!"

"No need to get worked up, Tai-kun," I teased, as we walked down the hall. "You knew this would happen."

"Shut up! I didn't see this coming!" Kagami snapped, his quirky eyebrows narrowing. "What, did _you_ know this would happen?"

I had to restrain myself from laughing. "Um, naturally?"

"I hate you."

I flinched only slightly, but I smiled. "That's okay. At least you can't avoid me."

After punching my arm, Kagami scoffed, "You're such an idiot Tsu. Changed a lot, except that baby face. Probably don't call yourself stupid anymore."

"I have brought up my self-esteem, huh?" I hummed, rubbing at the pain given. "I don't know, maybe it's the change of scenery here, with everyone around here Japanese, or um, most of them. That, or the fact that I met you and Tatsu-san."

"…'Tatsu-san'? You're going formal already?"

The air stiffened. I stopped walking, causing Kagami to look back at me. "What?" he questioned.

"I just - do you think that maybe…" I blinked, looking down at my textbooks. "You know, Tatsu-san is older than me, so maybe I should call him Tatsu-senpai. But after everything I've been through with him…"

"You sound lovesick."

My eyes widened, as I elbowed his arm hard.

"Ow! Idiot!"

I ignored his words and proceeded to stammer, "T-That's impossible! I don't like him _that_ way! I've strictly loved him as a sister to a brother, a-and he's my older brother, and it's disturbing, and—"

"Lovesick."

"S-S-Shut up! We're moving on!" I huffed, massaging my temple. "No, you're not allowed to become a regular just like that. Obviously, they want you playing in games with them. But they treat everyone equally at first, you know. It isn't fair if some of them got to be a full-fledged member right off the bat, and then the rest had to write a form to be out of the title, 'Trial Member.'"

"How lame," Kagami grunted. "Stop teasing me."

"I-I wasn't teasing you," I muttered, scratching my head. "I'm serious."

Kagami lightly stared at me, as I walked ahead of him. I could feel it focused at my feet, thinking hard about something. "You know I don't want to talk to _that_ person," he said.

"You knew it'd eventually come."

"I really do hate you and your guts."

"Well," I said, looking back with a cheeky smile, "Aida Riko is your coach. You can't avoid her. Go I bid you good luck, and goodbye."

With that look on my face, Kagami eyed me suspiciously. "What's with you? What do you know? Oi, tell me, stupid!"

"Good luck Tai-kun!"

"Get over here, you little brat!"

* * *

It was Monday. My head was a little bit dizzy from prior events. Though the night before, I was looking at my contacts on my phone in my room, smiling with nostalgia at my girl friends in America. They used to text me so often, but I understood why they didn't so much nowadays.

As I kept smiling at my contacts, that smile stiffened and slipped away at that one contact number.

_Himuro Tatsuya_.

I closed my eyes for a moment. _I miss him so much_, I couldn't help but think. _We were really close before._

I decided to look at my previous pictures, before I remembered that I had a new phone. Glancing at my laptop on my desk, I knew that okaa-san uploaded my old photos there.

Honestly, I didn't want to look at them right then. But at the same time, if I just kept things like that, my heart would swell up. Not that it wasn't doing that anyway.

I pulled up my laptop and opened the files. It was that small file on the corner of my screen that I would always leave untouched; I even refused to think about it. Why I never just deleted it… remained a mystery.

My eyes stared at the first picture. There was a girl with short, white hair, young and shy, smiling at a boy in dark raven hair and soft eyes. Okaa-san took that picture.

I remembered that day. Okaa-san embarrassed me by saying that Tatsu-san was a gentleman. She asked me if I had a crush on him.

My smile was faint. There was a point where I did develop tiny feelings for him. But it was brief, as I knew it could never be returned. It was ridiculous anyway… brother complexes were disturbing…

Clicking on another picture, my eyes met his once more. Tatsu-san took a selfie of himself, with a half-embarrassed half-angry Tai-kun in the background. This was taken on that basketball court near our school.

Another was taken of Kagami and I. As usual, I timidly smiled at the camera. Boy, did I look white… I still did.

Then, I noticed something a little off. Kagami was smiling too, looking at me. My cheeks were a little red, probably from sweating. I've always figured it was that, but Kagami wasn't sweating at all. I swore he practiced harder than me then. Well, then again, this was a while ago.

Why was my face red? Was it because of my camera shyness? Himuro? Kagami?

Back to Monday, I read the clock. It was only 6:03. School started about an hour and a half later, and it was close to my home, so I usually slept in for fifteen or so minutes.

I yawned, tired from looking at pictures for several hours—I'm not lying—and wondering all sorts of things. At the time, I never thought of relationships past friendship, and thought I'd never think of that until I was in my twenties. But this was just horrible… to think that I _liked_ my brothers. That's so dumb! Wah!

Even though they're not my brothers, they've treated me so. I should treat them as a little sister would, since that's the obvious thing to do!

My eyes closed, and I stretched in bed. I just remembered that I needed to finish an English assignment due in a few days, and that I should've finished it today so I could help Kimiko-san with hers. She knew that I was in America when I was a child up until middle school, and that I was better at my English than my Japanese (ironically, right?). She would ask her sister, but she was no better at it.

Maybe you've wondered if I had the Generation of Miracles' contacts or pictures anywhere. Well, I deleted their contacts, but Ki-kun would text me from time to time. Akashi too, though I didn't know why. His texts were weird anyway. I eventually didn't bother to see what both would text me, and would just delete it.

As for the pictures, I burned them on a disc that I buried somewhere in my closet. I couldn't bring myself to delete them forever. After everything I've been through with them? They may be assholes right now, but they were my friends once.

The only pictures I didn't delete were ones with Kuroko, because he once told me that memories couldn't be erased. The ones you wanted to throw away most would just rot with you. Besides, Kuro-kun was a friend I wanted to stick with, because he understood the big problem that others couldn't see because of their bigheadedness.

Maybe one day, I could have the heart to look at that CD again.

* * *

I dropped my phone when I checked the buzz.

"What's wrong?" asked Kimiko.

I stared at the phone and Kimiko back and forth. Slowly, I hid it behind me. "I-It's nothing."

"_Eh_, I don't believe you," she whined, snatching my phone up. Her eyebrows met in confusion. "Huh? Who's this, your ex-boyfriend?"

"W-What—!?"

"Whoever he is, he's stalking you." She smiled innocently at me, batting her eyes. "Care to cough it up? Who is this 'Kise'?"

My mouth closed shut, my feet rooted to the ground. I couldn't speak.

"Kise?" Kuroko was behind me. Kimiko jumped at this, and shouted incoherent things in surprise. I guess she hadn't met Kuroko yet.

"Do you know him?" was what I heard from Kimiko. I turned to Kuroko with a pleading look, and he ignored it while nodding. I visibly paled at this.

Before I knew it, Kuroko had my phone. Kise had again asked me where I was going for high school. He playfully threatened that he was going to search me up or ask Akashi. I held my breath at this.

"You didn't tell them?" Kuroko asked me. I shook my head quickly.

"I don't want to, and the reasons should be clear to you," I responded.

Kimiko decided to leave for me to talk to him, telling me to spill details later. Though it'd be hard to explain the past few years of my life.

Kuroko still held my phone when another buzz emitted from it. Kind as he was, he let me see it first. I sighed, "His senpai texted through Ki-san's phone. He apologized for him."

"That's expected," was what he said.

I stifled my laugh. "Yeah."

His blue eyes bore into mine. They held a mysterious yet sincere look to them that made him easy to talk to. He was by my side since I was here in Japan. I felt obligated to repay him with kindness as well, and by that, I had been manager of the team it seemed.

A final buzz vibrated my hand. The moment I glanced at it, I nearly dropped it again. Kuroko gave me a look of confusion, and caught my hands.

"Is that Kise?"

"Y-Yeah," I said shakily. "Though w-why so soon… ?"

Kuroko looked at me, and I knew he wanted to know. I took a deep breath, and said, "Ki-san is coming here."

See, you probably think I'm dramatic. But I'm not. Kuroko knew that I've tried since _it_ started happening to stop it from moving forward. But no matter what I did, nothing worked. Kise was a victim of this, and I've been emotionally unstable about him and some other people. So seeing him when my heart wasn't in its right place felt wrong, and I'd rather see him again when I'm calmer.

Kuroko laid his hands on my small shoulders. "It'll be okay. I'll help you."

I closed my eyes. "Thank you, Kuro-kun."

After a few quiet seconds, he randomly grabbed my wrist. "Come on," he said.

That's when I forgot something. "I-Is it today?" I squeaked.

"Yes."

I tried to resist his wrist, but it was firm. I was so weak…

On the roof of Seirin High, as I could've guessed, there was Kagami and the three other first years. I sighed quietly.

"What are you doing here?" Kagami demanded. I pointed to Kuroko, even though in my house my mother would cut off my fingers for it. I've grown up being forbidden to point because it was rude, but I didn't know what to say then, so that was why I did it.

"Well, she's manager, isn't she?" Fukuda asked. I slightly nodded, when Aida wrapped an arm around my neck and dragged me out of Kuroko's grasp.

"Leave Yuki alone, and let's do this already!" she shouted.

"It's almost class!" Kagami barked while cursing after. "Just take the forms already!" He shoved the papers to Aida, who let it fall to the ground.

"That's _not_ why I had you all here with those forms. I want confident players in our team, so you _better_ listen up." Then, Aida instructed them to shout their name, year, class, and their ambitious goals in front of everyone in the school grounds, or else they had to… strip naked and - and confess to the girl they love…

I wanted to say something about that. I didn't know what.

Kagami groaned but went first. Those following were Kawahara, Fukuda, Fuchida, and Kuroko. Though I wasn't there for Kuroko, because I got a text from Kimiko to help her with something before class (she didn't finish a question from her homework assignment), I heard right after that the principal busted them. I wondered how that went, but knowing from Aida that she did this every year, I could guess that she wasn't surprised.

* * *

**Mythia: I don't have anything past that i'msosorry.**

**The next part should be up by June though! Maybe even sometime this month! Though let's face it that's highly unlikely.**

**What do you guys think about Season 3 of KnB? I love it so far! The art's improved from what I'm seeing. :)**

**I also would like to ask: Would you like me to draw Yukishiro? I will have her picture on the fic's cover if that's the case.**

**Shiro: A-Ah, that's not necessary!**

**Mythia: But you're so cute. :3**

**Kagami: What?**

**Mythia: Admit it, Kagami! Isn't she cute!?**

**Kagami: H-Hah!? N-N-NO! *looks away***

**Mythia: That's kinda mean...**

**Shiro: T-That's okay! I look like a troll anyway.**

**Mythia: *stares* That's my line.**


	7. Honki Desu: Part 2

**Mythia: Mkay, so the anime is officially over! DX How sad. I waited until it was so I can watch it straight. But I'm not _ready_ to cry! No! NO!  
**

**But for the time being, I've updated! :)**

* * *

02

I Am Serious

_Honki Desu_

[Part Two]

"Well _that_ went well."

"Haha, yeah."

"How are you not surprised at Aida's antics?"

I looked at Hyuga, as a vein began to pulse on his forehead. He sighed heavily, as I laughed nervously, "I'm surprised… but I'm not reacting as much as I thought."

"Well, I guess that's good," he said with a dismissed shrug. I felt him glance at me, and he smiled a bit. I wasn't going to say anything about that, since I didn't want him to be mad.

But… what was that? Did he smile at me, or something going on in his mind? Or was it something else?

… Why was I wondering about that?

"I have to go," I told him with a wave. "I'll see you tomorrow, Hyuga-senpai."

Before I left, I heard him say behind me, "You've grown some, Yukishiro."

I felt my face heat up. It wasn't because I liked Hyuga, or anything—in fact, I held neutral feelings for this guy. It's just that—how to explain it?—I was feeling upset.

Growing up was a touchy subject back when I was in junior high, and yet I was really mature. I've disliked the idea of going into the monster's mouth that is adulthood, and looking into the sharp teeth that are my problems, whether it's career, marriage, motherhood, and much, _much_ more.

Well, I'll leave it at that.

Before I knew it, I was at Maji Burger.

As I seated myself beside Kuroko, I sighed happily and smelled the air. It smelled like burgers and fries, yet it had this Japanese style to it, in a sense. Maybe I should've gone to McDonald's if I was so America-homesick.

"He was too mad in my opinion," Kagami grunted, as he sat down with a try full of burgers. It was at least twenty or so, no doubt. Other customers stared as Kagami reached out to grab and unwrap a burger.

Kuroko sipped his vanilla milkshake, and said, "I didn't even say anything, and I got in trouble."

"Wait, r-really?" I exclaimed in surprise, while Kagami choked on his burger, surprised at Kuroko's presence (for the nth time). "Wow, right when I left. I must be lucky not to be in trouble."

"Feel bad for us," ordered Kagami.

"I-I feel bad for you."

Kuroko sipped his milkshake again, and handed it to me. I eyed the straw for a second before hesitantly sipping it. No matter what, this felt weird.

"By the way," Kagami spoke, switching to a serious demeanor as he leaned forward to Kuroko, "Why didn't you go to a well-known school like the other miracles? You could've, being the rumored 'Phantom Sixth Man.' Is there even a reason you play basketball?"

I turned to Kuroko, looking at him with a slightly pained face. Kuroko took the milkshake from my hands, sipped, and said, "My middle school's basketball team were taught this core knowledge: 'Winning is everything.' We didn't have teamwork, and instead grew and enhanced the raw talents of the Generation of Miracles to win games."

Kuroko looked at me, as if asking me if he could continue. I breathed slowly, my jaw tightened as I nodded quietly. I turned to Kagami, "As a student of the same junior high, I watched as the miracles do their own thing with no teamwork and no cooperation. We had winning locked by our side, but none of us were really having fun the way we're supposed to…"

"What?"

"It's… h-hard to explain."

Kagami went at another burger. "So what you're telling me is that you want to defeat the miracles by making a team out of us?"

Kuroko nodded. I was silent.

"_Seriously_?"

"I am serious," Kuroko said with no hesitation. My mouth parted, but I couldn't speak. "Your words and the coach's words really struck me. Now, the reason I play is mainly to try to make you and our team the best in all of Japan."

Kagami scowled. "You're kidding."

I shook my head. "Kuro-kun wouldn't kid around about this. You don't _know_ Tai-kun. You just—you don't _know_."

"Know what?" he asked with a look of confusion. It wasn't his fault for not understanding, so I took one of his burgers and tore off the orange wrapper. My fingers felt the little sesame seeds on the bun, and my eyes stared at it as if I've never noticed it before.

Then, Kagami stood up, and with a serious glow in his red eyes he roared, "We're gonna _be_ the best in Japan. Stop saying things like 'trying.' That's _weak_."

Kuroko and I looked up in awe. Did—did I hear that correctly? What was this all of a sudden?

Then, we smiled. Kagami left after that, but we understood what was to be done.

Wait. No we didn't—

* * *

The next morning, Kuroko had written on the dirt outside of school big words that said, "We will be the best in Japan."

"Did you see that, Tsu!"

"Yeah!" I exclaimed, my smile wide. "Kuro-kun… he sits in the back of your class, right? I wonder what he's thinking right now."

I felt Kagami stare at me with a big grin on his face. We high-fived, and he ruffled my hair.

My smile was gone.

* * *

"Um, excuse me…"

I entered the boy's changing room in the gym, while turning my head and averting my eyes. I wasn't blushing, since I've seen shirtless boys countless times, but I felt awkward still.

I looked up at Kuroko slowly, then at the others. They were all fully clothed, so I released a breath. "Okay, so uh—oh yeah. Aida-senpai is here. She said something about a p-practice match?"

"A practice match!" Koganei chirped. "With which school?"

"Beats me," I muttered. "Aida-senpai has been skipping across the halls, but I have no idea w-what she's…"

Hyuga twitched at this and repeated, "_Skipping?_ Do you _know_ what that—dammit! We must have a tough opponent."

"B-But she's smiling and cheerful… and it's a scary cheerful—"

"I know," interrupted Hyuga with a shudder. "Believe me, Yukishiro. This kind of Aida is scary as hell."

After an uncomfortable pause, I turned around. "Well, time for a practice match. We'll split into two teams."

_Who's team, I wonder_, I couldn't help but think. Something from Aida's face to Hyuga's reaction caused an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach.

* * *

"K-Kaijou?" echoed Hyuga with a surprised look.

I froze on the spot.

"Yep!" exclaimed Aida with a creepy grin. "We'll put plenty of first-years on the court."

I felt myself able to finally speak after a moment of imitating stone. "Wait! A-Aida-senpai, we can't! You don't understand, they're at national level… and plus…"

"Plus what?"

For some reason, I couldn't tell them. The man on Kaijou's team was an unspeakable name, because I couldn't stand Kise a lot. Don't get me wrong, though. He's a nice, kind young man, who's talented and good-looking. But, on court, he's…

"I, erm—it's nothing."

"Shiro-san would rather not talk about it," said Kuroko.

"Well okay… Anyway! Kaijou participates in the Inter High every year," Aida continued. "And this year, they might be stronger. They have their hands on one of the Generation of Miracles, Kise Ryouta."

Everyone reacted as if there were already flames in a building and it just exploded. As for me, I was like a still lake becoming ice.

I couldn't move. It was like a number of people restrained me and forced me to listen to torture. I mean she spoke the unspeakable. I repeat—the unspeakable.

Unspeakable.

Kise Ryouta.

"I think I'll go," I laughed nervously, as I inched away from everyone. "Haha. See you later. Like next week. You know… after the match. Because. Yeah! So."

"What's wrong, Yuki-chan?" asked Aida suspiciously. "Does it have to do with Teiko?"

"_Whaaat?_ _Teiko_? What's that about, haha?" I was halfway to the door, whew. "I'm tired, haha. I think I'll go rest, haha."

"'Haha'?" Koganei repeated. "Uh, Yuki…?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw Kagami smirking to himself. He must've been excited to play against a miracle this soon, so much that he's drowned in his own thoughts. Even though I've seen Kagami play and he's amazing, he's still not good enough to play against them yet. But I didn't want to say anything right now, not when he was in a good mood.

Hyuga spoke up, "I think Kise's a model on top of everything. Right, Yukishiro?"

"U-Um, yes! Haha!" I was nearing the door.

"Yuki-chan, is something the matter? Seriously tell us," Aida demanded.

I shook my head quickly, "Nope, haha! Just tired haha—oomph." I rubbed my head, as I turned to see a crowd of girls. Things clicked in my head rather easily, and I found myself fleeing to Aida and hiding behind her. "Oh no. The world is falling on itself."

"The hell!?" Aida yelped. "What's with these girls?"

Then, I could hear his voice. It was a bit lower, a bit wittier, a bit kinder—but it didn't change from before overall.

Aida muttered, "What is the Generation of Miracles Kise Ryouta doing here?"

My heart stopped. The unspeakable has cursed me once again.

"It's good to see you," Kuroko finally said. Kise looked up after signing a few autographs, and he said the same before pausing. His eyes were wide and his face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"_Yukishirocchi?_ Is that _you!_?" Kise seemed so happy, his catty golden eyes sparkling. "I found you! Ha! How wonderful!"

I sulked. Aida turned around to look at me, then at Kise. "Are you two—?"

"No! We're nothing! Not anymore!"

"So he is your ex…"

"… _W-What_?" I sputtered. "That's n-not it! Not at a-a-all!"

_What the hell's going on right now!?_

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Hyuga prompted.

Kise laughed, and rubbed his neck. "Well, when I heard that I was playing against Seirin in a practice match, I remembered Kurokocchi was here. So I wanted to visit him and see how he's doing. But _heck_, _Yukishirocchi_ is here too! You're not still mad at me, are you? 'Cause I still don't know what I did that made you upset—"

Oh lord. I slapped him.

"A-Aren't we the best friends of the best friends, Kurokocchi? Yukishirocchi…?"

"Not more than anyone else," said Kuroko.

I sucked in a breath. "I admit we were close back then, but things are different now, Ki-kun."

After crying, Kise stopped and smiled a bit. "At least you still call me 'Yellow-kun.' It's so cute coming from you."

I pointedly looked away.

One of the first-years in the back looked at the magazine in his hands and said, "Kise Ryouta is an all-rounder who got into the Teikou basketball team in a heartbeat. While he didn't have as much experience, his abilities and raw talent made up for it and he was put as a regular really quickly."

"All of that is true," Kuroko confirmed. Kise said that it was over-exaggerating. I contemplated this and realized that these events happened before I was transferred to Teikou. I wonder if…

… Wait, was it my fault that the Miracles became like this? If I had never met them, would events be the same up to here now? Would it be worse, or better? I couldn't help but widen my eyes in alarm at this.

"Shiro-san?" Kuroko called out. I blinked, and rubbed my head.

"I'm sorry," I muttered. "M-My head kind of hurts right now."

Kise walked up to me and hugged me rather tightly. His scent was overwhelming and actually pretty nice, but no part of my mind was in the clouds. I didn't do anything though, as I just stood there, enveloped by a large body clad in a grey suit.

"They're not treating you badly, are they Yukishirocchi?" Kise asked worriedly, his voice vibrating his chest on my face. "You can always transfer to my team, you know. We'll take good care of you."

I pulled away, and looked at Seirin's faces. All of them were worried at this. Did they like me here? Was I a burden to them so far? Would I just be a burden later on, for the rest of the time—?

Kagami roughly took my arm and pulled me to him. "No one's taking Tsu. Not when she's a part of the best team in Japan, that will beat you 'til you're on your knees."

I wanted to face palm. How could Kagami be so confident?

"You weren't actually considering his offer, were you?" Koganei exclaimed. I shook my head.

"No! It's not like that! I just… I thought that you might not have liked me being the manager of your team i-is all."

The team froze for a moment, before they all shook their heads. "No, stay Yukishiro!" they all said. "You've been very helpful!"

"Aw, _what?"_ Kise whined. "But Yukishirocchi! I'll even have us date if you come with me!"

"… W-W-Wh—" I blushed hard at this.

It reminded me of the time Kise confessed to me back at Teikou. He told me that I was a nice, beautiful, bright girl and that he'd liked me for a long time, ever since we met. He wanted me to be happy, and thought that he could make me happy with what he could offer. Kise was so sweet…

But I turned him down.

I didn't want to at first. I really considered him. He asked me if I needed some time to think about it, but I said no. I couldn't date him, after everything that's happened to me. It didn't seem right, and it'd never seem right.

To me, I think Kise deserved more than me. I couldn't offer much, really. He was a model, a Miracle, a smart, beautiful man with a kind heart (though not always). What would I be if I stood next to him?

I'd just wear him down.

"Why do you like Shiro-san, Kise-kun?"

My eyes widened, as I whipped my head to Kuroko. "Kuro-kun, please don't."

"Because she makes my heart explode! She still does! I haven't looked at any other girl the same way—"

"But you dated another girl after you confessed to me, did you not?" I interrupted. He looked as if I shot him.

"B-But I didn't like her. I still couldn't help but notice you…"

This was what I meant by sweet. Kise was too sweet. I'm going to fall over.

"I can't," I said. "I can't go to your team, and betray people I care about. These people have been kind to me, and I don't want to leave them ever. However…"

There's no way I could say this. No way, no how—

"I'll go on _one_ date with you. That's it."

—Oh gosh I said it what do I do.

I've never dated before.

I'm going to die.

Kise looked like the sun, I had to look away. My face was _burning_. Kagami let out a, "Hah!?" and the team reacted rather strangely.

"O-Okay! I'm going now!" I yelled. "See you tomorrow! Kise, text me a time and day and I'll look at my schedule!"

Kise was so irresponsible. I couldn't help but think that, as I stepped out.

He was already so busy, juggling school with basketball and modeling. Could he really manage having a girlfriend and going on dates with her? And on top of that, wanting _me_ to be his girlfriend? Has he lost his mind?

Kise really… was sweet. He was so serious about it too, from what I could tell—

Basketballs. I could hear one bouncing around in the court behind me. What's going on through that door now?

No. I had to go. I turned around and headed home.

* * *

Kagami and I sat down and talked. "So, what happened after I left yesterday?" I asked.

Kagami grinned, baring his teeth like a predator's. "I played against Kise for a bit. He's really amazing. The Generation of Miracles is amazing."

Wait, so Kagami wasn't angry about his loss? I thought this because he would've been arrogant or upset if he won against Kise. Also, he was against Kise. The winner was obvious from the start.

Then, he suddenly scowled. "Though he copied a move of mine," he grunted.

I smiled a bit. "Ah, that's what Kise's good at. He copies special moves from other players and makes it his own, though with more speed and power than the original," I explained. "It's a bit unfair, but it's not against the rules or anything."

"Were they this good in Teikou?"

"Yeah, they were," I said with a nod. "They were truly amazing, in a way that made you stop breathing. All of them were so distinct, and special, and it made me wonder how you and Tatsu-san were doing."

Kagami stared at me. "So you were thinking of us the entire time."

"No," I admitted, while tucking some of my hair behind my ear. "But I thought of you occasionally, especially during practice matches."

He looked up at the ceiling and grinned again. "Man, that pretty boy was really good. And he says he's the weakest. I'm pumped for the rest when I beat all of them."

"Wha... What makes you say that, Tai-kun?"

"I'll remind you one last time." He patted my head. "Little sis, when we become the best team in Japan, we'd have beaten everyone's asses—miracles included."

For a long time, those words just echoed in my mind. Then, I smiled and rested my head on his muscled arm. "Be serious, Tai-kun."

"I am serious."

And that was all I needed to hear.

* * *

**Mythia: SO OOC IDEK I WAS READING SHOUJO AND THIS HAPPENED SHOOT ME. *hashtag KiShiro KagaShiro KuroShiro***

**I finally updated... and I really can't update often anymore. Life is happening at a faster pace for me. Speaking of which, I need to read five books before school (required summer reading ._.) I'M DYING.**

**Chigai, Kuroko no Basuke Episode 3-4, in which Yukishiro dies from spending too much time with Kise on a date after the practice match Kaijou vs. Seirin! XD**

**Shiro: Please let me die before that.**

**Mia: But what's gonna happen on the next chapter? Your funeral with _no date_?**

**Shiro: Please consider my feelings, and not everyone else's!**

**Mia: Haha. You sound so selfish.**

**Shiro: A-And you sound inconsiderate!**

**Mia: Turning into a Fukawa Touko, are you? Wink wonk.**

**Shiro: ... I don't care how off this sounds... but DIE.**

**Mia: O_O *runs* (Shiro can be very scary when she's mad!)**


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